Harry Potter and the Heart of the Dragon
by SamusOlderBrother
Summary: The ritual of protection was not the only thing Lily Potter was working on the night Voldemort killed her.
1. Chapter 1 -- Lily and Petunia

The medieval towns used to burn people for having red hair. It was said that those with red hair were unnatural. Some even claimed that it was the fires of Hell touching a soul. That wasn't true, of course, but there was some truth to the idea that the core of a person could manifest in physical ways.

Or perhaps it's that the physical manifestations lead to how a person acts, to what a person becomes.

Lily Potter nee Evans had red hair. She'd been a prodigy before Hogwarts. Her family had been so proud of her. Literate at three, skilled in maths at five, it was clear she had an excellent memory. Her family, however, was from a poor, rural area and she hadn't been selected to one of the urban grammar schools, which were, at the time, based on the idea that intelligence was mostly hereditary. That hadn't stopped her, however, and she simply studied hard at the local library for the entrance exams she'd read about.

It came as quite the shock when her Hogwarts letter came.

It was once said, in folklore, that green eyes were a sign that a child had been replaced by the Fae. Again, not true, but when enough people conform to the expectations of a culture, it becomes difficult to dissuade them that a stereotype is mistaken.

Those entrance exams were not entrance exams to secondary school. The books at her local library hadn't specified because nobody in rural England would bother studying for secondary school. Everybody knew that and so nobody thought to put a sign or note up.

Young Lily Evans had been studying for university entrance exams at the age of eleven and hadn't known it. Because nobody thought to put a note in the library.

Later, when her family was hiding from the most recent Dark Lord, she was studying a combination of modern physics and magical rituals. Rituals, as everybody knew, were banned for being dark. But everybody knew that so there wasn't a note anywhere.

The last thing Lily Potter nee Evans said before the Dark Lord cast his killing curse was, "Ego sum Draconis." The final step in an ancient ritual performed by the mages of Roman Legions during the conquest of Britannia thousands of years prior. The Dark Lord's killing curse became the blow that completed the Celtic blood protection ritual on her infant son.

Neither of the ancient magics had been performed in a very long time. The two coming to completion at the exact same moment was something that was utterly unique. The effects were therefore unpredictable.

Even Albus Percival Wulfric Brian Dumbledore, the greatest wizard of the twentieth century (some might argue the greatest in the last thousand years), could not have predicted what would come. But that would have required he know about them. He merely knew of the dark magic lingering on the infant Harry James Potter's scar.

000

Vernon Dursley had had a questionable year. His career was just taking off, his house was beautiful, his wife was happy, his son was healthy, and his sister-in-law and her husband had mysteriously died. Unfortunately, he was now responsible for raising the demon-spawn that was his sister-in-law's child. He was getting more responsibilities at work, but he was also getting more grief over his various dealings.

Both Dudley and Harry were keeping him and his wife up nights and he was at his wits' end. His Petunia hated Harry even more than she'd hated her sister, but she changed his diaper just like his Dudley's.

Vernon, however, did not like the way his dinner wasn't ready when he got home. He didn't like the way the house was messy all the time. He didn't like the way his Petunia wasn't "in the mood." Finally, he didn't like the way his Petunia was talking to him.

He was the man of the house and he deserved respect. If she didn't respect him, he'd just have to teach her a lesson.

The babies were in their playpen in the den when he brought it up with his Petunia in the kitchen. She'd gotten smart with him so he gave her the back of his hand. On any other day, the look on his Petunia would've horrified him. On any other day, he wouldn't have thought to hit his wife.

Petunia let out a wracked sob and Vernon saw something change in his Petunia. Her eyes, which had always been a respectable brown, turned green. Her hair, which had always been a dark brown, caught the light and looked like spun fire.

In short, she looked like her demon of a sister. The woman rounded on Vernon and her arm reached into his chest. His chest went cold. The last thing Vernon Dursley heard was his demon sister-in-law's voice.

"I am the Dragon. No one harms my brood."

000

Petunia Dursley nee Evans didn't know what happened. One moment her husband had smacked her, something she never thought he'd ever do, ever. The next his body was lying on the ground. Even though her lip was split, a dribble of blood running down to her chin, her husband was on the ground.

She knelt down and began shaking him. He wouldn't respond. She began yelling for him. He wouldn't respond. She didn't know what to do because her husband, her Vernon, wasn't there to tell her. She eventually called 999 and the ambulance came. She was busy keeping the boys fed and quiet. She didn't have anyone to call to take care of them while they took her husband away.

She had to call one of the neighbors to look after them. The only one available was the crazy cat-lady, Missus Figg.

The next few days went by in a blur. There were police officers and solicitors and so much paperwork. It turned out that Vernon had taken out a life insurance policy when Dudley was born. He hadn't even told her about it. She now owned the house at Number Four Privet Drive outright. And a half million pounds on top of it.

Petunia may not have been a genius like her baby sister, but she was no fool. She knew she could make a half million pounds last quite a while, but it wouldn't last forever. Six months after Vernon's death, she moved into a flat just big enough for her and her two children. She had renters in the house paying enough that she didn't have to draw on the half million pounds and could invest it so she wouldn't have to worry about money ever again. She wouldn't be as rich as she'd like, but she knew enough about luck not to get greedy.

000

Harry James Potter grew up under the careful eye of his aunt. Her husband had died when Harry was barely two, so he didn't remember the man at all. He knew, however, that he would have to study hard if he wanted to make his way in the world. His aunt was very clear on that. She would look after him until he came of age and then he'd be on his own. It was the same for his cousin, Dudley.

His aunt was crystal clear when it came to the world: it is a hard, uncaring place and you must use every resource you can to wrest whatever you can from it. Those lessons made Harry and his cousin work and study very hard in school.

His cousin had a place in a prestigious secondary school because of his father. Harry had to work hard to try to get a place in one so that he could then go on to a prestigious university and have a career that paid well enough to support himself and whatever family he decided to have.

His aunt always stressed the importance of wealth, but Harry secretly had doubts about the importance of money. The owl that delivered a letter to the boy on his eleventh birthday came as quite a shock.


	2. Chapter 2 -- McGonagall

"Auntie?"

"Yes, Harry?"

"I've a letter."

"That's nice, Harry."

"It says it's from 'Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry.'"

The woman moved so fast Harry thought she might've teleported across the room. She snatched the letter out of his hand and read it quickly. She huffed.

"Well. I guess you won't have to study hard after all. Just like your _mother_."

Harry scowled. He knew his aunt didn't like his mother, but it hadn't seemed to bleed over onto him. "I don't understand."

"You're a _wizard_ , Harry." The word "wizard" had such disdain that Harry thought he could slap it out of the air if he tried hard enough.

"Is that a bad thing? Should I not be? I mean, magic isn't real, is it?"

"When the _witch_ came to explain about My Sister, she said there really wasn't a choice in the matter."

 _I am the dragon._

The thought had come unbidden to Harry. It was his birthday, after all, and he would be having a small celebratory dinner that evening with his aunt and Dudley. Most of the children at his school didn't want to hang around the kid who studied all the time, so there wouldn't be any friends.

 _I am the dragon._

Harry leaned against the wall.

"Auntie, I'm not feeling..."

 _I am the dragon._

He slid down the wall onto the floor.

 _I am the dragon._

The world went dark.

000

Harry awoke in his bed. He heard some voices outside. He couldn't make them out so he got up and went to the door. The flat he lived in with his aunt had three bedrooms and one of them was his. Until he came of age, then his aunt told him he'd have to find his own place.

"What's going on?" he croaked to the adults in the room as he opened the door. One of the two strangers wore a red robe while the other looked like Gandalf from the cover art of The Lord of the Rings.

The old man smiled and he saw Aunt Petunia fidget in the background.

"You had a bit of accidental magic, my boy." The old man had this beatific smile and his eyes twinkled. "Your Aunt contacted me while the Ministry of Magic narrowed in on the source of the magic. This is Auror Shacklebolt. I believe he's just finished his investigation."

Harry frowned. "Okay. Who are you then?"

The old man chuckled. "I'm terribly sorry, my boy. I'm Albus Dumbledore. I have a great many titles and responsibilities, so I quite forget that young people don't always know who I am. I'm really looking forward to seeing you at Hogwarts this year. I'm the headmaster there."

Harry blinked. Aunt Petunia saved him.

"Headmaster, I don't actually remember how to get to that magical place in London to buy supplies. I only went once with my sister, you see. Would you mind taking Harry to get his things? I have a small savings account set aside for this sort of thing, but I remember my parents never mentioned paying tuition for Lily."

 _I am the dragon._

The old man frowned, looking contrite. "I'm afraid I have a very busy schedule, Miss Evans, but I would be happy to send someone to help you, like any of the other Muggle-born students. It must have completely slipped through the cracks that Harry here might need someone to take him, considering his parents were both magical."

Harry was getting the sense that the Headmaster was familiar. Almost like deja vu. Aunt Petunia scowled. She didn't often scowl, usually when something unexplained happened around him.

"When should we expect them?" Aunt Petunia asked.

"I'll have to discuss it with the staff. You'll receive an owl with the details." He turned to Harry. "I should make it clear that you can't tell anyone about magic. It's one of the laws the Ministry is very strict about. I do hope you'll enjoy yourself."

With that, the old man gave a wave and walked out the door. The man in red robes followed. Harry looked at his aunt.

"So magic is real and I'm a wizard then?"

 _I am the dragon._

Aunt Petunia nodded.

"Right. Do I still need to pass my A levels?"

"I haven't a bloody clue." Aunt Petunia _never_ swears. "Just… we'll tell Dudley you've been accepted to a boarding school and your parents arranged it. Say they never told me before they died, so we didn't find out until this summer."

Harry thought about for a few seconds before asking, "Did they really die in a car accident?"

"Harry, I haven't a bloody clue! For all I know, they could've been murdered in their home by a madman. Or just fallen off a broomstick. Nobody told me anything, tells me anything. Lily and I… we weren't on the best of terms before she died. I. Don't. Know."

"All right. I'm sorry I've upset you, Auntie. I know you don't like my mother."

Aunt Petunia put her head into her hands and stood quietly. It wasn't long in the uncomfortable silence before she started sobbing. Harry was just more confused.

"I was angry she left me behind! She went off to _that school_ for ten months out of a year and I barely saw her! And then she took up with that bloody stupid _James_ and she moved away! I _miss_ her! I'm _angry_ with her! But I've always _love_ _d_ her!"

Aunt Petunia looked up and wiped her face with her sleeve. Harry saw she had bleary, red eyes and she sniffled.

"I'm sorry. I don't know why I'm telling you this. It's not your fault. Just… don't tell Dudley, all right? About any of this. I'm going to take a bath, so finish your schoolwork or leave a note if you're going out somewhere, okay?"

Harry nodded. Aunt Petunia went into the bathroom and closed the door. Harry could hear quiet sobbing even through the closed door, so he pulled a piece of paper from his notebook on the kitchen table and wrote a note that he'd be at the library. He checked his pocket money stash to make sure he had enough for bus fare and went down to the stop.

He liked the quiet of the bus. It was like being with people, but not. Everyone had somewhere different to be and nobody talked.

 _I am the dragon._

That thought kept coming up. It started in the morning, maybe even when he'd been asleep.

Harry got off the bus and walked up the steps of the public library and absently showed the librarian at the front his card. The thought had been bothering him all day and he meant to find out what it could possibly mean. So he had to go to the only person he knew that was more interested in studying than he was.

A shock of bushy brown hair was all he needed to identify the girl. She was sitting in one of the comfortable chairs that the library put out for reading in the building. He sat down in the chair next to the girl. He stared at her, hoping she would take notice.

She appeared to get to the bottom of the page and closed the book.

"Mister Potter. I've missed our study sessions."

"Miss Granger. How was your vacation?"

"Unexpected, I must say. Did you want to study?"

Harry fidgeted. This was the game they'd been playing for the past two years. They were friends, sort of. Hermione Granger was a bit of know-it-all and she was constantly trying to "help" other students. Harry didn't really need any help. They'd taken to studying together, once he'd made it clear that he was just as quick as she. They didn't really study together though. It was more like studying the same thing, at the same time, right next to each other.

Harry took a breath and shook his head. "I need to do some research."

She raised an eyebrow at him.

"I…" He thought about how he could word it without giving away anything he shouldn't. When Hermione didn't budge, eyebrow still raised, he briefly wondered if time was standing still. But then he say the rise and fall of her shoulders, so he was just delaying and he really should've thought more about this on the bus.

 _I am the dragon._

"Dragons."

"Dragons?"

Harry nodded.

"Mister Potter. May I call you Harry?" He nodded. "May I ask what brought this up? I ask because my parents have been considering sending me to a boarding school and the school's motto is a Latin phrase. Roughly translated, it means, 'Don't tickle a sleeping dragon.' And I was curious if you were perhaps considering the same school."

Harry blinked. "I'll be attending a boarding school at the start of term. I don't know the school motto, actually. It was the same school my parents went to. Apparently, they arranged for me to attend before they died."

She nodded. "The deputy Headmistress came by this morning and explained that I'd been selected. It's apparently quite prestigious. What can you tell me about your new school?"

Harry shrugged. "Not much. I just got the letter this morning."

"A letter preceded the Headmistress, of course. It was the strangest thing: it came by owl instead of normal post."

"Owl, you say?" Harry squeeked. His letter had come by owl as well.

"Would I be correct in deducing that the boarding school you'll be attending is… Hogwarts?"

Harry blanched. "Which would mean you'll also be attending."

"Will your cousin be joining us?"

Harry shook his head.

"Good. He's a prat."

"He's not that bad."

"Of course not to you. You live with him."

"Yes. Well. Do you know anything about dragons?"

"Only what's in fantasy books. Smaug comes to mind, of course. But there's also Apollonius of Rhodes from the story of the Argonauts. That's the one whose teeth the king used to create a bunch of animated skeletons to attack Jason."

 _I am the dragon._

"I saw the movies. I thought the animation in the Hobbit was well done, but the claymation in Jason and the Argonauts was a bit choppy."

Hermione rolled her eyes. "They were books. I only read the Latin translation of the Argonauts. It was originally in Greek you know, but I don't speak Greek. I thought I might learn it school, but my parents insisted that Latin was more useful. They were right, of course, but there're so many stories in Greek that I won't get to properly enjoy because I don't know the language."

"So you don't know about real dragons?"

She huffed and shook her head. "No. And I expect we won't learn much about them until we get to school. Perhaps when we go to Diagon Alley we can check a bookstore or maybe find a library there."

Harry would've raised an eyebrow, but he never could figure out how to raise just the one. "We?"

Hermione seemed to blush slightly. "Well I just thought that since we're going to the same school we could carpool to the shops. I suppose you could take the tube or the bus or both, but maybe you'd like to go in a group?"

"My Aunt doesn't seem keen on going, actually. She asked the Headmaster to send someone to take me."

Harry was really starting to get jealous of Hermione's ability to raise just one eyebrow. Did she practice in the mirror or something? How could she possibly have the time? Or was it just because she's a girl?

"The Headmistress is showing my parents today. They wanted to see it for themselves before they brought me along, for some reason. I managed to convince them to leave me here instead of at home."

"My aunt is… taking a bath. She said I could go somewhere as long as I left a note."

Hermione stared at Harry and the silence grew more and more uncomfortable before she finally broke it.

"Would you like to study together after we get our books?"

Harry smiled. Maybe they'd actually become friends instead of friendly rivals. "I'd like that."

000

Minerva McGonagall was trying to limit her excitement. She'd had second thoughts about those terrible muggles almost a decade ago. And third. And fourth. But Albus had convinced her that everything was fine and, if she was honest with herself, she had more to worry about than one child. No matter who that one child happened to be. The needs of the many outweigh the needs of the few, generally.

Now though, she'd get to see young Harry Potter. The address was different than the one he'd been left at all those years ago. A big apartment complex rising into the sky nearly a hundred feet. Part of her bristled at the sheer scope of the building. Why couldn't they have had these marvels when she was a girl?

She took the stairs up to the fourth floor and walked to the door of the flat. She took some measure of pleasure in the fact that other witches her age would've been out of breath from three flights of stairs. She knocked on the door and a boy with dark hair and thick-rimmed glasses answered.

"Yes?"

"Hello, young man. I'm looking for Harry Potter. You fit his description."

"Yes. I'm Harry."

He looked at her, eyes wide, hand still holding the door and ready to close it.

"I'm Minerva McGonagal, Deputy Headmistress and Professor. Is your Aunt or Uncle home?"

Harry flinched. "My Uncle died several years ago, but my Aunt's here. Come in." He opened the door and gestured with his hand.

Minerva walked into the flat. It was both nicer and worse than she imagined. The place felt cold to her. It lacked personal touches, like the oak desk she kept in her office or the portrait of her ex husband. She walked over to the woman who didn't resemble Lily Potter much at all and extended her hand.

"Minerva McGonagall. I'm sorry to hear about your husband. Mine passed in '85."

The woman froze, eyes not blinking and staring at her hand. Harry coughed and the woman started. She extended her own hand and they shook.

"Petunia Evans. Vernon passed in '82. You'll be taking Harry shopping then?"

Minerva nodded.

"Good. What time will he be back?"

"Some time after lunch. I won't tolerate dawdling and I'm scheduled to visit a muggle-born student this afternoon."

Petunia nodded. She was still staring, which was starting to unnerve Minerva.

"Mind your manners, Harry. Don't waste Professor McGonagall's time, understand?"

The boy nodded and looked at Minerva. He reminded her a bit of James, but the glasses were so very different. And those green eyes…

She stood and said, "Come along, Mister Potter."

She lead the boy to the street and summoned the Knight Bus, treating Harry as any other muggle-born. The children did not do well with apparition and she'd fought with Albus over putting some money into the budget for Knight Bus excursions.

After fighting her way through the small crowd in the Leaky Cauldron, she brought Harry straight to Gringott's Bank.

000

The bank impressed Harry in ways that the Leaky Cauldron couldn't. It was everything Harry expected of a bank if a bank were to be merged with ancient temples to Greek or Roman gods. The cart ride and obtaining gold coins for spending had been fun, mostly at the realization that he was rich. He really wondered where the money came from. It had to have been his father's side, but was it old or new? Was his father living off some distant ancestor's work or did he contribute himself? What of his grandparents on that side?

His mother's parents hadn't built up much of a fortune, but they were basically farmers. The most money they'd ever made had been when they sold their farm to that corporate collective. Aunt Petunia had told him all about that. She'd gotten everything that was left when they'd died and used it as a down payment on the house at Privet Drive.

It made him wonder if that vault was just a trust vault and he might have another when he came of age or if wizards stored valuables in other ways. Maybe he had some family grimoires or something.

The wand store, Ollivander's, was what he was most looking forward to and was saved until the very last. He'd bought himself an expanded trunk and gotten his school robes without incident. The clerk at Flourish and Blott's, the bookstore, had been very helpful in giving him an owl-order catalog when he'd asked about it. After that, he'd dutifully given the woman his list and asked her help in getting them quickly.

He'd asked Professor McGonagall if he could purchase an owl, since his aunt didn't have one and she'd walked him into the Owl Emporium. He absolutely loved the snowy owl he'd purchased. The apothecary in the next shop over handled all of his potion brewing equipment, so it wasn't much of a diversion.

He didn't want to waste the professor's time, after all.

The wand shop was lined with shelves upon shelves of boxes and the tinkle of the bell seemed to rouse someone from the back.

"Hello?" Harry called out into the dust. ' _Why would such a shop have so much dust?_ ' he pondered.

An older man with round, wire-framed glasses stepped through the stacks. "Hello! Hello! My name is Garrick Olivander and you must be looking for a wand!"

Harry nodded.

The man rubbed his hands together and pulled out a wand of his own. With a flick and a swish, or some other movement that Harry couldn't really differentiate, measuring tape began taking measurements while a quill began scratching on a piece of floating parchment.

"Which arm is your wand arm?"

"Right?"

"Right arm it is then."

The older man took the parchment and began reading it. He rushed into a line of shelves and pulled out a box.

"Thirteen inches, ebony with a unicorn hair core. A powerful wand with a great deal of precision."

Harry stared at the wand.

"Go on. Give it a wave."

Harry stared up at the man, Mister Olivander.

"The wand chooses the wizard, you see." And he had a genuine smile on his face.

Harry picked it up and gave it a wave. The wood of the wand splintered in his hand with a crack and hummed, glowing orange.

"Ow!"

Mister Ollivander gingerly plucked the wand out of Harry's hand and looked down at it, horror written across his face as the wand went back to its normal black color. It was still splintered though.

"I'm terribly sorry, young man. That's never happened before."

Harry was pressing his left hand into his right since his right still smarted from the wand.

"Wait right here while I get a first aid kit."

Harry nodded and waited, his hand still smarting from whatever that had been. The man came back from the back with a small, black box that had a red cross on top. He pulled out a cloth and poured a bit of something from a small bottle into it before kneeling down and gesturing at Harry's hand. The cloth stung a bit, but when it gave off steam and felt better, he marveled at the unblemished skin left behind.

"I'm terribly sorry about that. I'm going to have to do some research into why that happened. I've never even heard of a wand reacting that strongly."

Harry looked at the man. "Does this mean I won't have a wand, sir?"

The man laughed. "Oh, no! I feel I must explain. You see, when a wizard or witch comes in for their first wand, I make a bit of a spectacle out of it. I give them a bunch of wands that won't work for them first. Then I give them the wand that most closely matches their magic."

He pulled out his wand and waved it at the parchment. He snatched the parchment out of the air and showed it to Harry.

"You see? This is the wand that would best suit your magic. Fourteen and a half inches, elder wood, phoenix core. Curious."

Harry really wished he could raise a single eyebrow, but settled for, "What do you mean, 'curious?'"

"Well, the quill tried writing something else before 'elder.' You see the scratches there? That could mean any number of things. But that's just a bit of lore for me to work out later. What's important is that I don't actually have a wand exactly like that, so we have to get as close as possible. The closest wand I have is holly with a phoenix feather core."

"Will that work, sir?"

"Normally, I would say that it would, without doubt, work for you. But this little explosion has given me a bit of doubt. The only way to tell for certain will be for you to try the wand. It's very close to your optimal wand, but not perfect. I could do some research and make you a custom wand, but it wouldn't be ready for several months, well after the school term starts. It might not be ready until next summer."

Harry gathered his courage and responded, "I'll give the holly wand a try, sir."

Ollivander stood and went to the shelves. He brought back a lovely looking wand that Harry had a hard time not flinching when he touched it. But he picked it up and gave a wave, resulting in a stream of colors trailing out of the wand. It felt warm in his grasp though and he couldn't shake the memory of the first wand nearly exploding.

"Would you like me to make that custom wand? I'll charge you ten galleons for that wand, but I estimate thirty galleons for the custom. You don't have to pay it all right now. I'll take a two galleon down payment to get started and I'll have an itemized invoice for you when I finish it."

"All right." Harry didn't know anything about custom wands or what they ought to cost. He was just glad to have a wand that worked for him.

 **AN:** I got enough reviews and the story interested me enough to put some more work into it, so hope you readers enjoyed this. Also, I managed to misspell both Ollivander and McGonagall several times for some reason. My bad.


	3. Chapter 3 -- Ollivander

Harry had learned about being famous. He was quite perturbed by it, if anyone would have asked him. But nobody asked him. They just wanted to see the ruddy scar. So he'd gotten to the Hogwarts Express quickly and holed up in a compartment near the rear. He really hoped Granger would find him.

As annoying as the girl could be, she was the closest thing he had to a friend and he was just glad she wouldn't fawn over him. He hoped she wouldn't fawn over him. What if she fawned over him like the rest of the wizarding world?

The door opened and he was pulled out of his personal musings. A blond boy with slicked back hair poked his head in.

"I've heard Potter's on the train. Is it true?"

Harry wasn't sure quite how to respond to that so he just nodded. The other boy looked him up and down. Harry had the distinct feeling that he was being weighed and measured. The other boy strolled in and stuck out his hand.

"Malfoy. Draco Malfoy."

"Potter. Harry Potter. Feel a bit like an action hero when I introduce myself that way."

Draco raised an eyebrow. Why could everyone his age raise just one eyebrow but him? Was it a gesture he would forever be unable to do?

"You know, like in films?"

Draco looked confused. "Anyway, I could be a great help to you. Make sure you don't fall in with the wrong sort."

"I'm pretty good at avoiding the wrong sort all on my own, thanks. You're welcome to sit down, if you like though." Harry gestured to the empty seats. Draco looked like he'd bitten a lemon, but he moved in and took a seat. Two rather large boys began following him into the compartment.

"Hello. Who are you?"

"That's Crabbe and Goyle. Don't mind them."

"O-kay. Are they your bodyguards or something?"

The silence that followed answered the question for Harry.

"Shouldn't they be more concerned with school themselves? Or are they secretly adults in disguise?"

"No no no! Of course they're in our year. It's just an arrangement our families have."

"Some sort of familial obligation? Isn't that a bit… old fashioned?"

"Of course it's old fashioned! It's tradition." Draco raised his chin at the last part, obviously proud.

Harry nodded. "Alright. Have a seat then, gents." Harry gestured to the other open seats.

The door opened again and a head of bushy brown hair rushed in with a trunk, followed by another boy with a trunk of his own.

"There you are. Harry, this is Neville Longbottom. Neville, this is Harry Potter. Help me put our trunks away, would you?"

Harry got up and helped the two put their trunks away. Neville stared at Draco and Draco stared at Neville, both too horrified to speak.

"Hermione Granger, may I present Draco Malfoy and his bodyguards. Apparently, their families made some sort of arrangement. I've gathered that that's a tradition for wizards."

Neville spoke up. "Not all wizards. Just certain families."

"Yes. Well. Granger sounds like a muggle name. Did your mother rut with the filth? Or are you just a mudblood?"

"And there's confirmation that Mister Malfoy is racist. Or bigoted. I can never remember the difference. He seems nice enough otherwise though."

Everyone stared at Harry. Harry shrugged. "What? He seemed nice enough before making a complete ponce of himself."

Draco blinked. Neville blinked. Hermione's lips thinned. Goyle and Crabbe stared.

"See? This is the kind of thing you could've avoided if you'd listened to me instead of insisting you knew the right sort by yourself. That kind of overconfidence is just arrogant!"

Harry blinked. "I'm pretty sure that's irony." He turned to look at Hermione. "Hermione, that's irony, right?"

"Yes, Mister Potter, that's irony." She was doing a passable impression of Professor McGonagal, Harry thought.

"Well. Now that we've established that Draco is a," he looked at Hermione, who mouthed a word, "bigot and that I don't give a toss about genealogy, we can all move on to more interesting subjects." Harry had a wide grin on his face.

"But he just insulted her! Are you going to take that?"

"Miss Granger is perfectly capable of defending herself. I wonder if you think she can't because she's a girl or because she's, what's the term you used, Draco?"

Neville was pretty sure reality had broken. The surreality was something out of a dream.

"Well, whatever it was, I'm sure it was an awful insult or something. But I'm going to pretend Draco is giving Hermione compliments any time he says anything about her."

Draco, face turning an odd shade of purple just then, stood up and calmly stormed out of the compartment. Crabbe and Goyle looked at each other before swiftly following suit.

Harry blinked as the door closed behind them. "I can't believe that worked."

"What did you do?" Neville asked.

"I've absolutely no idea, mate."

"What just happened?" Hermione asked.

"Potter just broke the world, I think."

"O-kay. Still not following."

"Malfoy… But… Potter… You know what? I've no idea what happened either."

They both looked at Harry. "Don't look at me!"

"Harry," Hermione began, carefully, "what was that?"

"I just pretended he was Dudley being a git. Dudley isn't the brightest."

"Well, that explains absolutely nothing, but I see you won't be forthcoming with an explanation, so let's move on, shall we?"

"I've an owl-order catalog from Flourish and Blott's," Harry said as he pulled it out of his trunk.

Hermione snatched it and began reading it over. Neville looked at him, but Harry shrugged, having realized long ago that Hermione had a love-affair with books that would make Shakespeare's love stories look mild by comparison.

Soon, Neville realized he'd lost his pet frog and the three went on a search for the creature, which resulted in meeting several new people. Harry bought a modest amount of snacks, realizing that if he bought out the trolly nobody else would have the chance to buy any snacks, because of Aunt Petunia's lessons in money management.

The express pulled up to the castle as the sun cast orange and red hues across the towers. A giant of a man called for first years to follow him while everyone else followed a different path. They piled into boats, four per. Harry met a redhead with a smudge on his nose and was as unimpressed with the boy as he'd been with Draco Malfoy. Whereas Malfoy had a thing about genalogy, this boy had a thing about Slytherin House.

Harry saw they were both bigots in entirely different ways. Professor McGonagal ushered them into the castle and then left them alone, which Harry found a bit odd but didn't say anything. He caught Hermione's arm and turned her to face him.

"Have you read about the House system?"

"Oh, yes. It's in ' _Hogwarts: A History_ ' you know. Each House is named after one of the four founders of the school. Gryffindor, Hufflepuff, Slytherin, and Ravenclaw."

Harry held up a hand. "Do you know which House you want to be in?"

"I thought about it and I decided that I'd really like to be in Gryffindor. Professor McGonagal is the head of House and I really like her so I'm going to try to get into Gryffindor."

"I liked her too, but what about Ravenclaw? I'd really like to learn all I can and I'm not sure Gryffindor is the place for it."

The redhead managed to interrupt with his own strong feelings on the matter. Again. "Naw, mate. Gryffindor's the best! My brothers told me we'd have to wrestle a troll to be sorted though."

A few huffs from the gathered crowd of first years and at least one comment of, "Gryffindor is for idiots," made Harry acutely aware that the opinion was not universal.

Hermione turned to Harry. "I'm sure the Houses aren't that important. We'll get the same education in any of them."

"I hope so."

The ghosts were a shock and Harry made a mental note to look up any information on them when he had a chance. But the Sorting Hat was just plain odd. A singing piece of clothing would put them in their Houses. Logic, you obviously have no place among wizards and we wish you well.

Hermione went to Gryffindor as did Neville. A hush fell over the room when Professor McGonagal called his name. He walked up to the stool and took a seat. The hat fell onto his head.

" _Well, well, well. What have we here?"_

" _Gryffindor."_

" _You sound pretty sure."_

" _Yes. Gryffindor."_

" _You would do well in Slytherin, I think. But you would excel in Ravenclaw…"_

" _I… didn't think Slytherin would be an option, but still: Gryffindor."_

" _You know Ravenclaw would be better for you. And you would certainly do well in Slytherin."_

" _I don't care. Put me in Gryffindor."_

" _That's not how this works, Mister Potter. I have to put you where you belong."_

" _I AM THE DRAGON. Put me in Gryffindor."_

" _What was that?"_

" _Just put me in Gryffindor."_

" _Wait. You thought something else. 'I am the dragon.'"_

" _I didn't."_

" _Yes. You most certainly did."_

" _What does it matter?"_

" _It_ _'s part of the conversation we're having."_

" _Just put me in Gryffindor."_

" _You think it's that simple? A child sits on the stool, tells me what to do, and I just do it? You don't think I take into account the type of person the child is? You don't think it takes a great deal of skill to determine which house is best? I'm just some floppy_ _bit of cloth_ _covering_ _that happens to talk_ _to you?"_

" _I didn't say any of that. I didn't even think any of that."_

" _But you are now."_

" _Because you said it! Like if I said, 'don't think about purple elephants,' you'd be thinking about purple elephants!"_

" _I suppose you want to be in the house with the purple elephants?"_

" _NO! I want to be in Gryffindor!"_

" _What will you do if I put you in Ravenclaw?"_

" _I don't know. Probably try to get it changed, somehow."_

" _I've been sorting for quite a long time, you know. I've never gotten one wrong."_

" _There's a first time for everything."_

" _Are you trying to psych me out?"_

" _Is it working?"_

" _No. I should put you in Slytherin just for that."_

" _No! Anywhere but Slytherin! I think I'd go utterly mad if I had to listen to Malfoy for seven years straight. I'd do something stupid for sure."_

" _I see. Well, i_ _n that case, better be_ GRYFFINDOR! _"_

The hall erupted in applause and Harry walked over to the Gryffindor table. Harry was in a daze through the rest of the sorting. The hat sorted him into Gryffindor because he was going to do something stupid. That was just… stupid.

000

The next day was a Saturday and he met Hermione in the library. They found out that instead of the Dewey Decimal System, the library just used magic to sort the books. It was probably better than whatever the predecessor of the Dewey Decimal System had been, but it paled in comparison, much to both of their annoyance.

"There is a whole section on dragons in the magical creatures section."

"What about this section?"

"Which section?"

"This one. Right here." Harry pointed to the stacks.

"There's no section there. It's part of the charms section."

"It's right here!"

"Mister Potter!" came a voice from the front of the library.

Harry took that as his cue to go up to the front. He was frustrated now. He knew how libraries worked, darn it.

"Excuse me, Madam Pince. I've a question about how the library works."

The woman stared down at him over the rim of her glasses.

"Is it possible for different people to have access to different parts of the library?"

"There are wards that keep students out of certain sections that they're not to be in."

"Thank you."

Harry walked back to Hermione. He grabbed her by the hand and lead her into the section of the library he'd seen that she hadn't. It wasn't really a plan as much as proving he wasn't mad. Her eyes widened almost comically.

"How did you do that?" she hissed.

"I've more access to the library than you have."

"How do you figure?"

"There are wards to prevent unauthorized students from accessing certain sections or books. I saw a part of the library you couldn't see. I asked Madam Pince about it. I figured it was probably one of the wards and if I could see and you couldn't, that naturally meant I have access. Thus more access than you."

Hermione looked completely torn. On one hand, books. On the other, rules.

"Look at this: there's a Latin title here. It's with a bunch of books on wand lore." He pulled a title out and scowled at the Old English. "I wonder if it has bad information because it's so old. I'll have to owl Mister Ollivander. He said my wand wasn't a perfect match, but it was the closest he had."

"Put that away! We're not supposed to be here."

"I just said the wards would prevent anyone who wasn't supposed to be somewhere from being there."

Hermione bit her lip and frowned. Harry looked over more books. His hand traced over another leather-bound book that looked ancient.

"Did she really say that?"

Harry nodded.

"Well, since we wouldn't be here if we weren't allowed…"

000

 _Dear Mister Ollivander,_

 _I was curious after our conversation when I purchased my wand about what goes into making a wand. I'm happy to report that Hogwarts has a section on wand lore that seems rather robust._

 _I've found a book here in the wand lore section and I wondered if it was worth reading. It's in Latin and easily the oldest on the subject, so instead of reading it for myself, which would involve Latin-English dictionaries and more than a little bit of linguistics that I'm not sure I have time for, I thought I should ask an expert. Anyway, the book is Caduceus Eruditio by Antioch Peverell. It looks hand-written, but my friend says that anything older than about 1500 CE would have been hand-written because that's about when the first printing press was made. I was honestly glad it wasn't in Old English because the lettering gets really confusing._

 _If it isn't a very good volume on the subject, please let me know so I don't have to learn Latin._

 _Thank you for your time._

 _Kindest regards,_

 _Harry Potter_

000

It had been a harrowing week for Harry. His potions class had been an utter nightmare, he'd nearly had a heart attack in flying class at being caught out on a broom when he oughtn't have been, and Ron was being an utter pig. The thing with Ron wouldn't have bothered him so much if they weren't roommates. Or if Ron had been a friend.

As it was, the only bright spot was that he was growing closer to Hermione, who was no longer "Granger." Everything he'd liked about her in primary school he still liked at the castle. She did seem rather frazzled more often though.

The morning owls came in delivering all manner of post, including some strange, red letters that shouted at the recipients. That looked most unpleasant.

Harry was having a solid English breakfast when someone tapped him on the shoulder. He turned and got a face full of prefect badge. He didn't recognize the girl attached to it.

"Can I please finish my breakfast? I don't know what I've done, but I'd really like to finish before I get in any trouble."

"Don't worry. The Headmaster just wants to see you in his office. If you were in trouble, Professor McGonagall would have sent for you to see him. He probably just wants to have a chat about how you're settling in or something."

"Now?"

"As soon as you've finished breakfast. No rush, but he said you oughtn't dawdle as classes will start whether you're there or not. And he said he'd give you a pass to be late only if the conversation takes too long, not if you show up late."

Harry gulped and nodded. "Thanks."

"No problem." She turned to leave.

"Wait!"

The girl turned around. Harry flushed.

"I don't actually know how to get to the Headmaster's office."

"Ah. Yes. I see how that would be a problem."

"I don't suppose you would mind showing me so I'm not late?"

The girl sighed. "Sure."

Harry went on to do an impression of Ron eating as he wolfed down the rest of his meal and hurried to the Headmaster's office. There was an imposing gargoyle blocking his path and he had no idea what to do. Thankfully, the prefect, whose name Harry still didn't know, looked at the Gargoyle.

"Harry Potter to see the Headmaster."

The gargoyle's eyes glowed for a moment before sliding to the side, revealing a spiral staircase. The prefect gestured for Harry to go up, but left him alone on the stairs. Harry went to knock on the large door at the top but the door moved before his hand could find purchase on the thick wood.

"Harry! Delighted you could make it. Please, come in. Have a seat." The old man motioned to the chair in front of his desk. "I have to make a floo call before we begin, so please excuse me a moment."

He stood and walked to the fireplace, tossed in a handful of something that made the flames turn green, and said, "Garrick Ollivander," before sticking his head in the green flames. When he pulled his head out, the Headmaster stepped aside and Mister Ollivander stepped out of the green flames before they died back to their normal oranges.

"Mister Potter," Mister Ollivander said as he reached into the breast pocket of his vest, "I have to ask how you came to know about the book you mentioned in your letter."

The man looked stern and Harry began to panic. "I'm sorry. Am I in trouble? The prefect said that Professor McGonagall would be here if I'm in trouble."

The Headmaster's eyes seemed to twinkle behind the half-moon glasses he wore. "No! Not in trouble. Garrick, you're scaring the boy. May I read the letter before you get too excited?"

The Headmaster's hand was held out. Mister Ollivander handed the letter to the Headmaster who slowly read it, seated at his desk, while Mister Ollivander crossed his arms. Finally, the Headmaster turned to Mister Ollivander.

"I can see why you'd be so excited. I've searched the library for it myself and never found it." He turned to Harry. "Harry, would you mind showing us the book? The wards on the library are very old and very complicated. I daresay Madam Pince doesn't understand the whole of them and although I've been at Hogwarts for most of my life, I have yet to completely unravel the library wards."

Harry nodded. Something was going on here. Something important. And he felt like he had none of the information he needed to understand it. The three went through some secret passageways that put them almost on top of the library, having walked far shorter distances than Harry thought it ought to have taken. He went directly to the part of the library he remembered and began moving up and down the aisles.

It didn't take long for him to find the section he sought and he pulled the book out, but the adults weren't behind him. He walked back out of the aisle and found them looking around.

"Here. See? Just like I said."

He handed the book to Mister Ollivander roughly and the man grasped it gently, reverently.

"Albus… Is this genuine? Is it real?"

The two seemed to completely forget Harry and took the book to a table to take a look, cast several spells, and gasp.

"Is it…?"

The Headmaster nodded. "How is your Latin?"

"I read just fine. Don't ask me to write or speak it though."

"I think, in that case, that a copy is in order." The Headmaster turned and walked toward the front.

Harry was still confused. "What's going on?"

Mister Ollivander blinked and turned to Harry, clearly startled by the question. "He made the most famous wand known. It's become a legend, you see. This book is like a legend itself among wandmakers. It's supposed to contain lore that no one else has discovered."

"But how has nobody ever found the book before?"

Ollivander stared at Harry. "I have absolutely no idea. I would think it would be in a vault somewhere, jealously guarded by the descendants of his brothers. Antioch didn't have children, you see, so his possessions would have gone to either Cadmus or Ignotus, his brothers. The book itself was only referenced by contemporaries of Antioch, wandmakers who were around at the same time or just after his lifetime."

The Headmaster returned with two books in his arms. He set the books down on the same table along with a bottle of ink and pulled out his wand, waving it without an incantation. The books opened and ink ran from the bottle onto the pages forming words as they watched.

"We shall sit here and ensure they copy completely. Harry, you are excused from class for as long as this takes. I believe you have transfiguration and I would be happy to instruct you here if you're concerned about missing out on your lessons. I taught the subject before I became Headmaster."

"Um, why would I need to sit here?"

"You are the only person to have found this particular manuscript since it was placed in the library."

"Really?"

"The only one who has said anything, in any case."

"So knowledge can be misplaced? Just like that?"

The Headmaster nodded. "Just like that."

 **AN** : I don't like having to write so much setup. I'm trying to put it only that which matters for the story I want to tell here, so there won't be rehashing of Quiddich or Snape's first potions lesson or things like that. JK Rowling already wrote that stuff and I don't feel the need to reinterpret/rehash it.


	4. Chapter 4 -- Remus Lupin

It was nearly Christmas. Harry was having a great third year at Hogwarts. He'd decided to focus on his studies instead of playing Quidditch his first year, much to Hermione's approval and the disapproval of all of the Gryffindor boys. He'd enjoyed flying, but he could always practice flying without having to play Quidditch.

Harry had a recurring dream in which Professor Quirrell turned to ash in his first Defense Against the Dark Arts class after giving him a monster headache, but the Professor had simply disappeared that year. Everyone said so, even Hermione.

His second year had been marred by the lackluster teaching of Gilderoy Lockheart. There was another incident wherein his subconscious screamed that he was a dragon and then a book in Ginny Weasley's basket at Flourish and Blott's had melted. An elf had stolen his mail that summer for some reason, but nothing happened to interrupt his ongoing contest over top marks with Hermione during the year. And he just rang Hermione on the muggle telephone anyway.

Most of the boys in his dorm had decided to take Divination, but Hermione had challenged Harry to take Runes, Arithmancy, and Care of Magical Creatures. The two had both signed up for all of the electives, but MacGonagall had told them that there was the option of taking those three or some combination of two others as the schedule wouldn't line up otherwise. Hermione had been crestfallen, but Harry had been secretly relieved.

"Harry?"

"Yes, Hermione?"

"Do you remember in first year when we were in here and you found a restricted section on wand lore?"

"No, Hermione."

"Think about it. Concentrate."

"What's this about?"

"Just concentrate on remembering the restricted section on wand lore. We were sitting at a table just over there…"

Harry concentrated and had a vague impression before a sharp pain in his head knocked him over.

"Wha?"

"You broke the obliviation."

"Hermione?"

"You were obliviated, Harry. And so was I."

"The hidden section on wand lore? But why?"

"I don't know."

"How did you figure it out?"

"Occlumency. I've been studying it since Professor Snape made me cry in first year."

"What's that got to do with knowing you were obliviated?"

"Occlumency is the art of fortifying, organizing, and defending one's own mind. It makes legilemency difficult or impossible, it can be used to beat veritaserum, it largely nullifies things like love potions, it dulls the effects of Dementors, and it makes false memory charms easy to recognize. A skilled enough occlumens could potentially retain their wits during Dementor exposure."

"How many times have you been obliviated?"

Hermione frowned and looked at the stacks.

"Well?"

It came out a whisper when she said, "I don't know."

"You do though. You have a perfect memory. Eidetic. You remember everything."

"Lockheart… did it a few times. He didn't do anything untoward, he just made sure I didn't remember certain things. I only have a few blank spaces, so he completely destroyed the memories rather than implanting false ones. I'm pretty sure he put a confundus in as well."

He'd known Lockheart was a fraud, but this… well, it made Harry angry.

"What about other teachers? Like Snape? He's always been a bit of a git."

She shook her head. "Not him. The Headmaster was the one who removed the memory of the wand lore, I think."

"Dumbledore?"

She nodded. "Think hard about the meetings you had with the Headmaster. You're the most powerful wizard I've ever heard about. You're breaking memory charms on sheer will and magical might rather than skill. Think hard and the charms will unravel."

Harry focused on the Headmaster and found that several of the hazy meetings he'd had involved the Headmaster cleared up and resolved into him hearing the Headmaster utter, "Obliviate," before the memory went blank.

"My first trip to Ollivander's wasn't me going through a great many wands to find the right one. I blew one up, it nearly took my fingers off. And Mister Ollivander took the closest fitting wand straight over to me. This wand." He held the Holly wand up to Hermione. "I don't remember what happened after that."

"This is _important_ , Harry. You have to start practicing occlumency. I'll give you the book I've been using."

"It took you almost three years to get this far. What makes you think I can pick it up quickly? Is it the power thing again?"

She shook her head. "I've been obliviated more than that. Specifically about occlumency."

"What happened?"

"Dumbledore the first time, but then it must've been people from the ministry or something. I'd been too loud about inquiring about it, but they didn't know that I'd made coded messages to myself. It just seemed odd that I wouldn't have pursued it sooner."

Harry continued to stare at her. A tactic that would usually get her to elaborate. It worked. Again.

"I finally went to Borgin and Burque's for the book. I paid an extra fifty galleons for the shopkeeper to forget I'd ever been there. I don't know if he actually obliviated himself, but the shop has a reputation. The book's not illegal, but the ministry doesn't want citizens to have defenses, I suppose. It is classified as Dark though."

Harry nodded. "Why would it be Dark?"

"Harry… I've learned that history isn't written as an accurate accounting of events. It's a story that the winners tell."

Hermione's face was scrunched up and that told Harry everything he needed to know about how Hermione felt about that.

"Why wait until now?"

"It's almost Christmas. We'll be going home tomorrow. You're ridiculously talented. If anyone can learn in two weeks, it's you."

"How long did it take you?"

Hermione winced. "I spent the whole summer on it. And I do the exercises every night before bed and every morning when I wake up."

Harry blinked. And took a breath. "And you want me to learn it in two weeks?"

Hermione nodded. "With the Dementors around the school, we have to protect ourselves."

Harry's eyebrows rose slightly. He was still working on lifting just the one, which would've been perfect for this situation. "Just us though?"

Hermione shrugged. "Help yourself first before helping others. It does no good to help someone else and then die or something in the process."

"Makes sense." Harry started packing his books. "Two things."

Hermione paused in packing her own books. She stared at Harry, waiting for him to explain.

"First, I'm going to learn the Patronus charm in January. I've worked it out with Professor Lupin."

"Okay. And second?"

Harry blushed. "I think I might fancy you and I don't want it to affect our friendship so I'm being honest. If you don't want to do anything about it, I understand."

Hermione froze.

Harry looked away and finished packing his parchments.

"Harry?"

Harry turned to look at Hermione.

"I think I might fancy you too. I think I have for a while."

Harry smiled.

"But! I'm nowhere near ready for it. Having a boyfriend, I mean. I can't… I have to be in control. I don't want to be the kind of girl, the kind of _person_ who is controlled by hormones. I just can't, Harry."

"Okay. Sure. I understand."

He turned to leave and she grabbed his arm. "I'm not rejecting you. I'd rather… if it's the only way to remain friends, I'll… I don't really want to, but… I'll do it if it's the only way we stay friends."

Harry held her hand and smiled wanly. "I couldn't do that to you. I couldn't force you to do something like that. You're my best friend."

"How about a compromise? Get occlumency down and we can try kissing on the train. If kissing doesn't work out, we can still be friends and just put the whole thing behind us. Okay?"

Harry let out a breath he hadn't realized he'd been holding. "A date. No pressure involved. First Hogsmeade weekend in January. If I get occlumency down by the train ride back."

It was Hermione's turn to let out a breath. Her only real experience with romance was from books and those were just too much. She couldn't even think of doing the things in those books. A date with Harry would be so much better than… well, she'd be having a chat with her mother about those books over the holiday. She had a feeling she'd been reading the wrong books. Even if they were exciting. And a bit fun.

000

Harry read the book as soon as Hedwig dropped it off at the apartment the night he got home for the holidays. Hermione had decided to send it with Hedwig the evening before they'd left so that neither of them could be caught with the book on their person or in their things. Harry was going to put it in his vault at Gringott's as soon as he was able to convince his aunt to take him to Diagon Alley.

He focused on the exercises with a fervor and focus that would have impressed any of his teachers. His aunt took him on as many outings as she could since Dudley was spending the holiday with his Aunt Marge. Apparently, the woman, Aunt Marge, had resources to obtain court mandated time with Dudley that included the Christmas holiday.

When Harry told her about the occlumency, she'd asked him if it required magic to learn. Harry had no idea, so he just offered her the book. The two of them started practicing together on Harry's third day home.

On the first of January, Aunt Petunia broke down crying. "It's working, Harry."

Harry, not entirely sure what to do, gave her an awkward hug.

"Oh, God…"

"Aunt Petunia? What's wrong? Are you okay?"

Petunia stood from the couch and ran into the bathroom. Harry was too stunned to follow, but he heard retching and puking coming from the bathroom. Then the toilet flushed and the sink came on. Harry moved to the bathroom door.

Aunt Petunia was in front of the mirror, her skin pale with a greenish hue. She turned to Harry and failed to smile convincingly. "It's okay."

Harry frowned. "You don't look okay. What's wrong?"

"I've been false memory charmed. Three times."

"What happened?" Harry asked urgently.

"Once was your mother. I'd seen her fighting and killing some men in masks. She was terrifying. I talked to her about it. I asked her to do it so I wouldn't have to think of her like that. It was selfish and stupid, but I asked for it and she did it. I… think she wasn't very good at it since I was still frightened of her afterwards."

Harry stared at her. Voluntarily having memories altered seemed so _wrong_. "What about the other times?"

"I didn't ask for it."

"What happened, Aunt Petunia? Who did that to you?"

"Don't. Don't you ask me that. Leave it, Harry."

"But why?"

She turned and screamed, "I don't want to talk about it! Leave it!"

Harry took a step back, but nodded. "Okay. I'm sorry. I didn't mean to… I'm sorry."

000

Harry met Hermione on the platform to return to Hogwarts. He nodded and she nodded in return. They went to find a compartment.

"Well?"

Harry smirked. "With the motivation I had? Of course I have it down."

Hermione raised a single eyebrow. Harry was still a little jealous that she could do that and he couldn't.

"I've cataloged all of my memories going back to when Voldemort killed my mother."

Hermione continued to stare with one eyebrow raised.

"I've uncovered seventeen obliviations and/or memory charms. Fifteen while I was at Hogwarts, two from before."

Hermione's eyes both went wide. "Before Hogwarts?!"

"Ministry obliviators when I was seven. They weren't as thorough as they should've been because I was 'just a muggle boy.' There was a magical girl in the library whom I witnessed levitate a book." He ended with a pointed stare at Hermione.

"Oh." Hermione had the grace to look ashamed. "What about the other?"

"An Auror on my eleventh birthday."

"What happened on your eleventh birthday?"

"I came into my power, just like most other magical beings. Only, my mother did something the night Voldemort killed her. I cataloged the memory and found something interesting."

Hermione, never one to leave a mystery, was the first to flinch. "Well?"

" _I am the Dragon_." The words resonated with so much magic that Hermione found it difficult to breath.

"What in Merlin's name was _that_?"

"The results of that night. Did you know that I've overpowered every spell I've cast at Hogwarts? Every single one. We need to learn some diagnostic spells. Or create them."

"Harry… how is this related? You're making leaps and I'm not following because I don't know the context."

"I'd only be speculating. I don't want to corrupt the data. If you collect it, you'll need to be objective."

Hermione nodded. Science. She understood science. She nodded again. "Right. We'll start looking as soon as we get some free time."

Hermione pulled out a book and started making notes in the margins.

"Hermione?"

She didn't even look up. "Yes?"

"Where do you want to go on our date?"

Hermione's hand slipped and she made a line across the page. She looked up with a slight blush. "I'd forgotten all about that."

Harry shifted in his seat. "I haven't. Are you still… is it okay? Do you want to go?"

Hermione nodded slowly. "I do. Can we just… walk around Hogsmeade?"

"Sure. Of course. I don't even know what a date is supposed to be like."

"I've been reading all of these books about romance and you have no idea how nervous I was." She giggled. "It turns out, I was reading all the _wrong_ books! They were all fantasy, you see. Meant for lonely housewives' entertainment."

"Oh." Harry frowned. "Wait. You've been reading Romance novels? Like Danielle Steele? I read one my Aunt kept in the bathroom and she had to explain… stuff. Worst night of my life that didn't involve my parents' death. I nearly died of embarrassment."

Hermione's face was steadily growing redder and redder. She blurted out, "Yes!"

"I don't think I'm ready for any of that… stuff. I mean, my parts might react, uh, the way they're supposed to, but I'm just… I don't… I can't…"

"Oh my god! Me neither." She let out a huge sigh of relief. "I'm just not ready to do… _that_ either."

Harry nodded. "Right then. We can go on a date and maybe kiss. But that's it."

Hermione nodded. "Yes. And if either of us, erm, changes our minds, we'll just discuss it like rational adults."

"Good. Good. That's settled then."

"Yes. Settled."

They both pulled out books and began reading as the train pulled out of the station.

"Hermione?"

"Hmm?"

"When you said you'd 'do it' to maintain our friendship, did you think I wanted you to… you know… do stuff from those novels?"

Hermione blushed brightly. "Yesnowlet'snevertalkaboutthiseveragain."

Harry started laughing. Hermione started to glare at him. "Come on! You're my best friend. I would never, _ever_ force you to choose between being my friend and doing that. That's just wrong!"

Hermione started to giggle. "Yeah. You're right. That was pretty silly, wasn't it?"

000

"Well."

Remus Lupin thought himself an expert in Defense Against the Dark Arts. But he was utterly flabbergasted by Harry's Patronus.

"Something wrong, Professor?"

"Wrong? No. I mean, a corporeal Patronus on your second try is impressive, but I've only seen one magical creature Patronus."

"Is that bad?"

"No! It's just surprising. And that's rather large."

Harry looked up at the silver-white dragon breathing small plumes of silver-white fire in time with Harry's own breath.

"How big are they supposed to be?"

Professor Lupin frowned. "That depends on a lot of factors." He held up a finger. "But! The rule of thumb is that solidity is the true measure of power with this charm."

"So I'm doing it correctly?"

Professor Lupin nodded.

The dragon roared and blew a gout of silver-white flame over the two of them. It was warm and safe and pleasant and Remus Lupin hadn't felt that since he was a boy, before he'd been bitten.

"That, however, wasn't normal."

The dragon winked out. Harry looked crestfallen. "I didn't do it correctly after all, did I?"

Professor Lupin put his hand on Harry's shoulder. "You performed the charm perfectly. I've just never heard of a Patronus doing that before. Your patronus is special. That's all."

Remus felt something had shifted with his wolf. He had no idea what, but he'd never felt anything like the Patronus-fire before either.

"Why don't you see if you can cast it again?"

Harry went through the steps of the spell and then brandished his wand as he shouted, "Expecto Patronum!"

The dragon flew out of his wand again, curling protectively around them both. Again, it had flames coming out of its nose as it exhaled.

"I have to ask: how much power did you put into the charm?"

Harry frowned. "I tried to overpower the charm on the first try, like I usually do. But that didn't work so I decided to focus on the technical details instead. That seems to work much better. It feels like the spell is powered more by emotion than magic."

Professor Lupin nodded. "Indeed. I've always thought that to be the case, but I've never been able to test it. I'm tempted to make an alteration to my curriculum for the year just to see if it's true."

Harry lit up. "You should, Professor! That'd be brilliant!"

A cough from Professor Lupin's office brought both their attention away from the silver-white dragon curled around them. A man in raggedy clothes had his hands held out in front of him.

"Black," Professor Lupin spat as he drew his wand.

"Hear me out, Moony. Please. You can do whatever you want to me after, I swear."

"Talk fast, traitor."

"Peter was the secret keeper. It was a bluff so that if I was caught I couldn't give it up under duress. But he's _here_ , Moony. Peter is _here_! I'm innocent and I can prove it if I can catch the rat."

Harry raised his hand. The two men ignored him.

"You blew him up. Peter's dead."

"Professor?" Harry quietly asked. And was roundly ignored.

The man, Black, shook his head. "He cut off his finger and set the explosion himself. A concussion is just as bad as a confundus spell, I'll have you know."

Professor Lupin's wand arm seemed to be dropping. "Why now? Why here?"

Harry still had his hand up. "Professor?" And was still ignored.

The man shrugged. "You know how there's some carry-over from Padfoot? Senses, minor tics, that sort of thing?"

Professor Lupin nodded.

"I want to follow the Dragon. Frankly, I can see why. He smells more powerful than Dumbledore. Hasn't the wolf noticed?"

Harry still had his hand raised. "Professor?"

"Question?"

"Is that Sirius Black and, if so, what are you talking about?"

Both men blinked at Harry silently until Black cracked a smile and laughed. "Bit more like Lily than James, isn't he?"

Professor Lupin smiled. "He's got her sense of humor too, I think. Not quite a Marauder."

Black sighed. "Too bad. He looks so much like Prongs."

"So you were friends with my father then?"

Black nodded and turned to Harry. "The best of friends. I'm actually your godfather."

Professor Lupin turned to Harry. "I don't know if what he's said is true, but if it is… He's been innocent this whole time. I want to believe… but…"

Harry looked at the two men. Professor Lupin's wand arm was at his side, but he was still clutching his wand tight enough for his knuckles to be white. Black pulled his sleeves up.

"No mark. See? And I don't have a wand right now. I'm completely at your mercy. Please, Moony. Please. You _have_ to believe me."

"Where is Peter?"

Black smiled wide. "The Weasley boy's rat."

"Scabbers?"

Black shook his head. "That's Peter Pettigrew. I'm sure of it. He's missing a finger on his right hand."

The dragon winked out. The adults looked at Harry, whose face was set in a grim frown. "I'll get him. Don't tell Dumbledore."

Both men frowned. Black asked, "Why?"

"Dumbledore's obliviated me before. He'll keep whatever he wants quiet. He can't be trusted."

This time Professor Lupin asked, "How do you know?"

Harry smirked. "I'm an Occlumens."

Professor Lupin shook his head. "Which is perfectly fine for discovering if you've been _false-memory charmed_. But if you've been _obliviated_ , you wouldn't know. The memories would be _gone_."

Harry paled. "So if I'd been obliviated, I'd have no way of knowing?"

"If you had a perfect memory to begin with, you'd have a gap, but it's incredibly rare to have a perfect memory."

Harry nodded. "I know, but the occlumency exercises can bridge the gap from excellent to perfect, so… I'll just… erm… go get Scabbers."

"You have to be careful, Harry. He's a cunning bastard," Black said. Professor Lupin was frowning.

Harry smirked. "So am I. It took some convincing for the hat to put me in Gryffindor instead of Slytherin."

000

Harry walked into the common room. He looked about until he spotted Ron Weasley. They weren't friends, mostly because the git kept insulting Hermione. Harry smiled as he walked up to the chess game in progress Ron was playing with Dean.

"Hey, Ron?"

"Whaddya want, Potter?"

Rude git. "I was wondering if Scabbers is safe. I saw Crookshanks eating a rat earlier and I was worried it might be Scabbers. We might not be mates, but that's a nasty thing to happen. I… wouldn't feel right if I didn't make sure."

Ron looked at Dean and Dean responded, "Go check it out. We can pick the game up later."

Ron and Harry went into their dorm where Ron found Scabbers in his cage. Ron let out a huge sigh as red light flashed into his back before collapsing in Harry's arms. Harry's wand whipped in front of Ron's unconscious body and a red jet shot into the rat in the cage.

Harry laid Ron out on his bed before casting another stupefy and an incarcerous on the rat. He carefully opened the cage and checked the rat's hand, finding the finger missing. He stuffed the rat into his pocket, keeping his hand on it as he walked up to Hermione.

He whispered, "Need your help with something. Leave your things and follow quietly."

Once in the corridor, Hermione asked, "Where are we going? What do you need help with? Who is Mark Hamill?"

"Professor Lupin asked me to retrieve Scabbers. He'll tell you everything when we get to the classroom. Luke Skywalker. What is forty-two?"

"Alright. The answer to everything. Who is the best Doctor?"

"This way. Tom Baker."

"I like Sylvester McCoy better, but you're entitled to your opinion." Hermione nodded and put her wand back in her pocket now that their identity confirmation protocols had been fulfilled.

Her wand came right back out when she entered the Defense classroom and saw Sirius Black as the door shut behind them.

"Professor Lupin?"

Harry pulled the rat out of his pocket.

"Miss Granger, please lower your wand, but keep it ready. If that rat is an animagus, then Sirius is innocent. He's already bound, as you can see."

Hermione lowered her wand and gave a nod to Harry. "Please tell me you've cast privacy charms and checked the room for any other surprises?"

Professor Lupin blinked.

Black laughed as he said, "Moody is going to _love_ her, Moony."

Professor Lupin began casting charms. Several of them were non-verbal. "We're secure. I mean, as secure as we can be in Hogwarts. The rat, if you don't mind?"

Harry set the rat on the floor and Professor Lupin cast a jet of blue light at the rat. Before their eyes, the rat turned into a balding man with pale skin and colorless hair. Hermione cast a stupefy at him. Professor Lupin and Sirius Black looked at her. Black was grinning and said, "Moody is going to _LOVE_ her. I'm telling you all right now."

"That's Peter," Professor Lupin whispered. "That's Peter!" he shouted. " **I'm going to kill him!** " he growled.

Black was laughing, "I told you so," repeatedly.

Harry stepped between Professor Lupin and the man on the floor. "Don't!" Hermione stepped to Harry's side.

"He killed your parents, Harry."

Harry flinched. "What about the law? What about Sirius being imprisoned? What about the bloody dementors?"

Black was still hysterical in his bindings, but Professor Lupin sobered immediately. He took a deep breath with his eyes closed and when he opened them he began to pace. He stopped abruptly.

"Alright. I can take the secret passage to the Shrieking Shack and apparate to the ministry. If I go directly to the DMLE, Dumbledore won't be able to hush it up. Probably. I'll have to send him an owl with a note. This doesn't merit a patronus message since it isn't an emergency."

"Moony, there's a problem with that plan."

Professor Lupin looked over to Black and raised a single eyebrow. Apparently, everyone except Harry could do that.

"Several problems, actually. The first of which is that you'll have to levitate the rat's body behind you or wake him up. Because you're pants at transfiguration."

"I got an Acceptable on my NEWT!"

Black nodded. "Exactly. Pants. Anyway, second problem is me. I mean, I can hide out in the castle as Padfoot, but I don't know how well that'll work or how long I'll be able to keep it going." He smiled widely. "I almost said, 'keep it up,' but that would've been too easy."

Professor Lupin and Harry sniggered. Hermione blushed and said, "We're not hiding this… this… this pervert, are we?"

"Hey! I prefer 'Ladies Man,' thank you very much. And I'm Harry's godfather and innocent and I've spent… I forget how long locked up in Azkaban. Didn't even get a trial, either."

Hermione stared at Black and spoke to Harry, "Harry, I've never spoken ill of the dead before, but your parents were mental to put this man in charge of your spiritual development."

"What?"

"He's completely unfit to-"

"No. I mean what's that about spiritual development? Isn't a godparent in case something happens they raise the kids?"

Hermione shook her head. "No. That's a common misconception. A godparent is responsible for the spiritual development of the child. Basically, they help them with philosophical or religious questions that kids might not be comfortable talking to their parents about."

"Okay. Kind of a random thing to jump on. So how do we take care of Peter?"

Professor Lupin cast, "Mobilicorpus," and Peter's unconscious form lifted off the ground. Then he cast, "Talpa," and the body disappeared. "You're over-thinking things, Padfoot. Maybe Azkaban wasn't all bad for you. Now hide out and wait for my patronus."

 **AN** : Hope you enjoyed this chapter. Things will slow down in fourth year. I don't see the point in Quidditch, personally. It's two games played on the same field, at the same time. There's a reason sports either have a clock or a course.


	5. Chapter 5 -- Sirius Black

Petunia was agitated. She was waiting on platform 9 ¾, which was intimidating for a plethora of reasons. She'd met Mrs Granger and was having a nice chat, but she was still nervous.

There was a man who'd followed her, she was sure of it. He had long, shaggy, dark hair. She had no idea what he was about, but he was on the platform as well. She wasn't sure if he was stalking her or if he had someone to pick up as well.

The worst part was that he seemed vaguely familiar. Her memory before she'd started with occlumency had been a bit above average at best, so that vague familiarity plagued her.

"You alright, Petunia?"

Petunia shook herself. "Sorry, Jane. Just paranoid, I guess. Ever meet someone and immediately get a creepy feeling?"

Jane had bushy brown hair and a pleasant smile with perfect teeth. Being a dentist with imperfect teeth was just bad business. "Oh, yes. I know _exactly_ what you mean. Who's the creeper?"

Petunia turned to look for the man, but found she couldn't pick him out of the crowd. "I can't see him now. He was just here though. I swear."

Jane nodded. "I believe you. What's he look like? I'll keep an eye out, just in case."

"He's a bit taller than average. Dark hair to his shoulders. I've never really seen his face because of the hair. He strikes me as some kind of heroine addict, he's sort of skinny like that anyway. He's always wearing a suit of some kind, but it's never tailored correctly, always loose and baggy."

Jane's eyes went wide. "How many times have you seen him around? Is he stalking you? Have you rung the police?"

Petunia waved Jane off. "He must live near me. I've only ever seen him around the building and then here today. He just seems… I don't know… withdrawn, dangerous… creepy."

Jane seemed to calm at that. She nodded. "I understand. Just be cautious. You never can tell with men."

The Hogwarts Express was pulling into the station just then, great gouts of steam puffing from the engine.

"Anyway, have you read the Daily Prophet at all? We decided to get a subscription when Hermione's letter came, you know."

Petunia looked at Jane and shook her head. "No. I… wasn't in a good place when Harry got his letter. I don't even know how to go about it, anyway."

"Well, it turns out that this year their Defense Against the Dark Arts class, that's like self-defense Hermione said, was taught by a werewolf. Can you believe it? A real werewolf teaching children self-defense! They're supposed to be Dark creatures, but Hermione said they're terribly misunderstood. She said this Professor Lupin was excellent at teaching."

"A werewolf?" Petunia paled.

"Yes. But he's been sacked. The paper tried to paint the man as dangerous, but Hermione said there wasn't a single incident where he acted inappropriately. She thinks very highly of the man and you know how hard she is to impress. Anyway, I'm thinking of seeing if there's another newspaper since the Prophet reads like a tabloid."

Petunia nodded. The train had just come to a stop and the older students were starting to disembark. They had their trunks levitating behind them, which Petunia was far enough in her occlumency to realize she was jealous about and not repulsed. It was getting easier to come to the station every year, it hurt a little less.

Harry and Hermione were holding hands. Petunia thought they made a cute enough couple. Harry's letters told her about their dates. Petunia had been worried that he wouldn't focus on his studies, but several tea outings with Jane had disabused her of the notion that Hermione would allow any boy she dated to slack academically. Even if it meant putting Hermione second behind studying.

Petunia thought the girl sounded a bit mental over academics, but she was trying to be less judgmental. And it did make sense to study first and pursue relationships second. Petunia wished she'd had that wisdom when she was young. That and maybe the idea that women could be more than just homemakers. Petunia couldn't help being a bit bitter over how lucky these young girls were in that respect.

The creepy man was waving at someone. "Harry!" he shouted.

Petunia froze. Harry waved back at the man. "Sirius! What are you doing here? Where's Aunt Petunia? And Mrs Granger?"

Harry was hugging the strange man.

"I've no idea. I've no idea what they look like, so you tell me, eh?"

The strange man, Sirius, was grinning like he belonged in an asylum.

000

Harry spotted Mrs Granger and Aunt Petunia. Aunt Petunia had that mortified expression she wore whenever someone brought up how Uncle Vernon died. Maybe Mrs Granger had done that on the platform.

"Come on! I've spotted them!"

He dragged Sirius and Hermione over to where Aunt Petunia and Mrs Granger were standing. He stuck out his hand to Mrs Granger.

"Hello, Mrs Granger. It's lovely to see you today."

Mrs Granger shook his hand and Harry turned to Aunt Petunia.

"Aunt Petunia, Mrs Granger this is Sirius Black. My parents named him my godfather."

Aunt Petunia seemed nervous as she stuck out her hand to Sirius.

"Lovely to meet you, ladies," Sirius said with a smile and bow as he kissed Petunia's knuckles. He rose to look at Petunia. "I hope you don't mind, but Harry told me where you lived and I've bought a flat in your building. You might have seen me around recently. I would've introduced myself sooner, but I've been in and out of Saint Mungos."

Mrs Granger started. "Are you _that_ Sirius Black? The one who escaped Azkaban?"

Sirius nodded, but he was looking at Aunt Petunia, who had taken a step backward. "I was innocent of the crimes for which I was imprisoned. I assure you, I'm not a danger to Harry or Hermione."

Aunt Petunia nodded silently, but was slightly more comfortable with the man after she'd seen him smile. Funny how close fear and acceptance can be. Professor Lupin walked up to the group with several trunks behind him.

"Hello. Remus Lupin. I'm meeting Sirius here and I just wanted to say that it's been a pleasure teaching Harry and Hermione this year."

Sirius put his arm around the man's shoulders and grinned even more. "You ready to go home, Moony?"

Remus smiled and looked down. "I appreciate it, but I can make my way on my own."

Sirius pulled him tighter, nearly putting him in a headlock. "Nonsense! Which trunk is yours?"

Remus pointed to the shabbiest of the three trunks. Sirius grabbed the trunk and held onto Remus. "See you later, everyone!"

They disappeared with a pop, trunk and all.

Aunt Petunia turned to Harry. "Did you know he was moving near us?"

Harry shook his head.

"Are you lying? If you're lying I'll be much more upset than if you knew and didn't tell me."

"I had no idea. I swear. I figured he just wanted to visit over the Summer. After that business with Pettigrew and the Ministry…"

Aunt Petunia took several deep breaths and then put on a big smile. "Okay! Let's go home then. Lovely seeing you, Jane."

By the time they got to the car, Aunt Petunia asked to hear about the year at Hogwarts. She listened attentively to Harry's excited chatter about transfiguration, runes, and charms. She listened to him complain about the potions professor. He seemed over the moon about his defense class.

They'd barely closed the door to the apartment behind them when someone knocked. Aunt Petunia answered the door.

"Mr Black, Harry hasn't even had a chance to unpack."

"Of course. I'm just so excited. I was cleared yesterday of all ill effects from the dementors. They called my state remarkable, you know. I'm a remarkable fellow," he said with a disarming grin.

Harry groaned. Sirius was hitting on Aunt Petunia. To be fair, Sirius had hit on Madams Hooch and Pomfrey as well, both of whom were at least thirty years his senior, probably more. So maybe he just hit on every female adult he met. He hadn't hit on any students, but the charm seemed to flood out in waves at any older women.

"Sirius," Harry growled.

"I hope I'm not upsetting you, Petunia. I'm a bit flirty, you see. If that bothers you, of course I'll tone it down or stop."

Aunt Petunia giggled. "I thought you were some sort of stalker at the station."

Sirius did his best "who me?" and Aunt Petunia giggled again. Aunt Petunia leaned in and whispered something in Sirius' ear. Something that caused Sirius to blush. But he smirked and said, "I'm sure we can work something out."

Harry was picturing all manner of things that were making him pale. Aunt Petunia had more than one romance novel in her room.

Sirius clapped his hands together, bringing Harry out of that strange and awful line of thought, and said, "Now: as to why I'm actually here. I would like to train Harry to become an animagus. He'll be able to transform himself into an animal."

"What about the underage magic restrictions?" Harry asked.

"You'll be doing the meditations. You also have to keep a certain leaf in your mouth for a month. That was the hardest part for me, anyway. I swallowed the damned thing. Twice. Spit it out in my sleep a few times too. I've high hopes that you'll manage it on the first try though. You're already an Occlumens of some minor skill."

Harry nodded.

"And, if your Aunt doesn't mind, I'll take you flying on weekends. There's a broom racing track we used to practice on in Wales. I checked that they were still in business and they are."

"Can Aunt Petunia come too?"

Sirius shrugged. "I don't see why not. She won't be able to ride the brooms. Unless you don't mind riding as a passenger? I think they rent two-seaters. I can arrange a portkey or we can take the Knight Bus. My bike only seats two and I think Remus will want to come to watch as well at some point. Never was a great flier, that one."

Aunt Petunia smiled. "Of course. Why don't you go home and get a calendar so we can figure out dates? Dudley doesn't get home until next week. Can he come too?"

"Dudley is…?"

"My cousin," Harry answered.

Sirius shrugged again. "I'll have to check with the course, but I don't mind."

Aunt Petunia nodded.

"One last thing. I'm inviting you both to dinner tonight. Now I'm not what you might call culinarily inclined, so I'll be ordering take-away. Remus insists he knows how to cook, but he still looks skinny so I'm not keen to believe him."

Harry looked at Aunt Petunia. She sighed. "All right. I didn't want to cook tonight anyway."

"Brilliant! I'll see you both tonight then. We're in 415." That was only a few doors down the hall. "Say six o'clock?"

000

Remus sat in his room and sighed. He felt like such a charity case and it was eating him. But Sirius hadn't asked him to stay, Sirius had just sent a letter as soon as the Prophet printed the story that said, "Moony, I'm almost glad you've been sacked so you can help me with my new place! I've got the second room all set for you, so don't worry about a thing."

Remus sighed one last time before pulling his wand out and setting his things to unpack.

"Moony!"

Sirius needn't have shouted so loudly. Remus was a werewolf. That came with certain super-sensory benefits. Or curses, when a roommate tried to shag every bird with a pulse he came across and succeeded more often than one would expect.

Remus opened the door. "Yes?"

"We're going to order take-away. Help your oldest friend."

Remus smiled. "Dumbledore is my oldest friend. You're just my longest tenured."

"There's that rapier wit! Really though, I need a hand. I don't know how to order without magic. Here: I have a bunch of menus from places."

Sirius opened a drawer and pulled a stack of fliers and menus out onto the kitchen counter. Remus sighed and began looking over the pamphlets.

"Harry and Petunia will be joining us for dinner, so we need to order enough for all of us."

Remus grunted as he looked over the Chinese menu. It offered a Bejing Roast Duck dish that was piquing his interest.

"Also, we're going to make regular outings to the broom track on weekends. You're welcome to come along."

"No, thank you. I saw how Harry flies this year. I don't think I could take watching the two of you compete," he said as he scribbled down menu items with a muggle pen. It felt almost foreign after using quills all year.

000

Harry and Petunia arrived just as the delivery man was leaving apartment 415. Petunia pressed the button for the buzzer.

"Just a sec!"

Sirius opened the door while Remus was emptying cartons onto plates in the kitchen.

"Welcome! Come on in."

Once the door closed, Sirius took out his wand and waved it at the cabinets in the kitchen. Place settings flew out and landed around the dining table. Remus walked the plates over as he rolled his eyes.

"I'm not sure if he's showing off or just lazy."

"Bit of both, at a wager," Harry replied with a grin.

"Thank you for having us over, Mr Black."

"Of course! Can I get you a drink?"

"God yes. Anything with alcohol will be fine."

Petunia was clearly struggling with the situation for one reason or another. Maybe even several.

They all sat down and tucked in.

Harry looked over to Sirius. "Tell me a bit more about the animagus training."

"Well, as I said earlier: there's a lot of meditation involved, so that's the first thing. And you have to hold a mandrake leaf in your mouth for a month. Everything else will have to wait until after that."

Harry looked to Remus. "How was it for you, since Sirius is being evasive?"

Remus smiled and looked down. "Oh, I never bothered with the skill myself."

"Really?"

"I didn't see the point."

"Why not?"

"James, Sirius, and Peter became animagi so they could be with me during the full moon. I just… helped them at it."

"That's a shame. You should try it anyway now that you've got some free time. If I have to do it, I shouldn't be alone, should I?"

Remus smiled again. "I doubt Miss Granger is going to miss out on extracurricular magic lessons, so you won't be alone."

"Well then you'll make a third. Come on: what have you to lose?"

"I think it's illegal for a werewolf to become an animagus."

"So what? Those laws are stupid anyway. You're a werewolf, not a… a nundu. You transform against your will once a month. I'm sure there are husbands who say the same about their wives. Quit being such a p… sissy."

"Well, when you put it in such juvenile terms, how can I refuse?" Remus expressionless face hinted at his inherent sarcasm.

Harry smiled brightly. "Brilliant. It's settled then. You, me, and Hermione will become animagi this Summer."

Petunia wondered at the sanity of agreeing to let Sirius do anything with Harry. He was clearly a child and made everyone around him act like a child. She was even acting like a child.

000

It had been a month of having the leaf in their mouths and Sirius had guided them all through the meditations. Remus knew already what his animal form would be and had more than a little fear over completing the process. Harry and Hermione were so excited that he just couldn't bring himself to disappoint them, however.

"I'm a lioness." Hermione was in a state of shock. She was so hoping for an otter. She loved otters. A lioness would be a more useful form, she supposed, it being a land animal and all. Still, she was a bit disappointed. "Harry?"

"What else could I possibly be? It's been ringing round my head for years."

Sirius was excited like a kid on Christmas morning. "Say it. Go on. I want to hear it."

" _I am the dragon._ " The room seemed to shudder and they could all feel it ringing in their teeth and guts.

Sirius nudged Remus' arm. "See? I told you. Didn't I tell you? I did tell you."

Remus merely smiled, nodded, and responded in monotone, "Yes. Just as I'm a werewolf. Yay."

"Hermione, go ahead and go first. You might not get your clothes the first time, so just be aware."

Hermione sighed and focused on joining herself to her animal, letting the magic flow through her. It gave her some pleasure as she shifted into a great predator. She was a little annoyed, however, to find that her clothes were shredded in a pile next to her.

She glared at Sirius, who put his hands up and said, "I told you your clothes might not change. You chose to continue wearing them instead of changing into a bath robe or going nude or something."

She glared harder.

"I'm not saying you should have gone nude, of course. Just that it was an option to save your clothes that you didn't take. You could have done a sheet or a bathrobe or a towel or any number of non-trivial modesty covering devices. You could've even just gone into a room and morphed in private."

"Way to dig yourself deeper," Remus commented. Hermione growled.

"Harry, you'll have to wait for me to cast the space expansion charms. I know Remus won't want to change without some precautions against transmitting his condition, so you'll have to go before him."

Sirius took out his wand and the room was suddenly several times its original volume.

"Okay. Go ahead."

Harry took off his shirt, glasses, and trousers, but left his boxers on. He connected his magic to the vision of his inner animal and shifted. Remus and Sirius gasped and took a step back. Hermione was so shocked she shifted back to herself and scrambled, nude, several steps back.

" **Well? What do you think?** " Harry's voice rumbled out from the mouth of the dragon. His scales were black with a purple pearlessence that made them shimmer as he moved. He had great leathery wings and his body clearly had corded muscles that rippled beneath the scales and his tail curled around him. His eyes were the exact shade of green Harry's eyes normally were, but they were slitted and reptilian.

"You can talk?" Sirius whispered. "That's… so not fair," he whined, very much like a dog.

" **What kind of dragon am I then?** "

Remus frowned as he walked around Harry, examining the dragon. "Your head has horns that look like a Welsh Green, but your scales are black like a Hungarian Horntail. They also shimmer a bit like an Antipodaen Opaleye. Or a fish. Anyway, your tail has an arrow-shaped spike like a Hebridian Black. If I had to guess, I'd say you're a mutt, Harry."

Harry huffed and fire came out his nostrils. " **Sorry! Sorry!** "

Hermione shifted back to her lioness form and nudged Remus. Her head was at his waist, which made her an average sized lion, easily more than 120 kilograms. Remus stumbled forward and looked to Sirius, who changed immediately into a giant black dog.

Remus sighed. He pulled off his robe, connected his wolf with his magic, and felt the transfiguration begin to take hold. It was by far less painful than his monthly transformation and he remained in control, much like when he was on the Wolfsbane potion only more.

With the potion, he still felt the wolf in the back of his mind screaming at him to act a certain way, to do certain things. This was completely him, no wolf involved. He shifted back and put his robe on.

"I'll get robes for you lot. Sirius, don't be a child."

Sirius shifted back and called, "Hey! I can be an adult any time I like!"

Harry shifted back down and kept his hands covering his groin. His boxers lay in tatters on the floor.

"Not going to be easy for me to practice, is it?"

Sirius looked at him with a raised eyebrow. Harry still couldn't raise just one eyebrow and was considering giving up trying. "You can always practice here. And you'll have plenty of space if you practice in the Forbidden Forrest at Hogwarts."

"Not like you lot though. Hermione can just lock a classroom door and practice. I'm what? Eight meters long? Three or four meters tall at the shoulder?"

"Yeah. About that…"

"What?"

"You'll only get bigger. You've just turned fourteen, so your form is still an adolescent. Hermione too."

Remus held up the robe for Hermione while looking away and she shifted, taking the robe. "You're saying our forms aren't finished growing yet because we're not finished growing?"

Sirius grimaced and responded, "Yes."

"So I'll be a great big lioness weighing twenty stone or so?"

Sirius shrugged. "No idea how much a stone is, so sure. Why not."

"A stone is a bit more than six kilos," Hermione and Remus said in stereo.

"I'm pretty sure I'll still outweigh you, 'Mione."

"Well you're just a great bloody dragon, aren't you?"

" _I am the dragon._ " The walls shook and one of the pictures fell off the wall.

"Don't you take that tone with me, Mister."

Harry lifted his hands. "Sorry! Instinct. Couldn't help it."

"Instinct?"

Remus stepped between the two. "There can be, and usually is, some bleed over between your animagus form and your human form. You may have noticed Sirius is a bit of a dog."

"Oh. Great. I'm so glad I let you all talk me into this now. I'm sure my lioness instincts will prove really useful in future. And I see some Ministry owls as well. You said this was allowed!"

The owls deposited warning slips to Harry and Hermione for illegal underage magic use.

"I'll go to the Ministry this afternoon and clear it up. This is supposed to be allowed since you aren't using wands," Sirius said with a frown.

"You'd better!" Hermione snarled.

"There's a bit of the lioness. You already have plenty of instincts that you ignore. These are just new ones. Sirius chooses to let his instincts guide him. Because he's a great big man-child."

"Hey!"

"You are."

Everyone was smiling except Hermione. "I just… I never thought of myself like a lion."

"No?" Remus asked.

Hermione shook her head.

"It's a huge part of a gryffon, so much that lions are what Gryffindors, which have the gryffon in their crest, are known as. I've seen how you act and it really isn't a surprise to me. I'm sure it isn't a surprise to Harry or Sirius. I bet your parents wouldn't even be all that surprised."

Harry nodded.

Sirius clapped his hands together. "Right. That's settled. You lot all just need to practice more to figure out the nuances, so it's time for celebratory ice cream," he finished with a grin.

Hermione glared at him.

"Which I will purchase and leave you to eat while I straighten out the underage magic warning you've received?"

Hermione nodded. "Better."

Sirius just grumbled something about Peter's trial being a walk in the park compared to dealing with angry women.

 **A/N** : Anyone jumps on me for "pairing" Sirius with Petunia needs to grow up. Flirting is not "pairing" and if you need me to explain that to you, you are too stupid to be my target audience. I respect my target audience. My target audience is at least a little clever. If you need your hand held and reassurance that Sirius will never give the long pork to Petunia in an author's note, you are also not my target audience.

Anyway, hope you enjoy reading.


	6. Chapter 6 -- Pranks

Harry was chasing Sirius around the track on the afternoon of the Quidditch World Cup. Sirius had considered getting tickets and surprising Harry with them, but flying with Harry was more fun than spectating so Sirius abandoned that plan. Sirius liked Quidditch, but he didn't like it that much.

The clouds were just starting to turn pink and orange as Sirius brought his broom down. In just nine more days, Harry would be heading back to Hogwarts to start his fourth year. The Summer had been utterly brilliant. The animagus training had gone better than Sirius could've hoped. Harry even convinced Moony to do it, which made the full moon the previous night the easiest one they'd ever seen.

The transformation wasn't a screaming torture session for Moony. He just smoothly shifted and a few minutes later the wolf took over. They hadn't been able to find a reliable source of Wolfsbane potion all Summer and so were back to what they did in the old days. But in the morning, instead of Moony passing out and/or being in serious pain, Moony just stopped, shifted back to human, and walked back to where they had stashed a robe.

Harry even joined in for a while, which would have been terrifying for someone to watch. The dragon flying over them under the moonlight was beautiful and really helped pen Moony in to the forest. But Harry had to call it quits just after midnight because he was too tired to continue.

Moony decided that since it was likely the last broom race of the Summer, he'd watch Harry and Sirius perform feats of aerial daring that would've killed Lily with fear. Of course, the track had the Wizarding Wireless playing coverage of the Quidditch World Cup, so Remus could take a break from seeing the two scream through the course.

Aside from the hoops and posts and colored lights of the course, the place had stadium lights so that it could remain open into the night. The owner said they were originally so that they could remain open after dark in the winter, but night flying had become popular enough and they had some groups of perhaps questionable natures who booked the course overnight.

The wireless broke the coverage of the game.

" _We interrupt this broadcast of the 1994 Quidditch World Cup to bring you this important news: earlier tonight, an attack was reported to occur on Azkaban_ _Prison_ _. The Department of Magical Law Enforcement has not yet released the casualties, but Saint Mungos_ _has received emergency portkeys. Missing from their cells were Bellatrix Lestrange, Rudolphus Lestrange, and Rabastan Lestrange. The only comment from the Aurors has been: 'we must assume these convicted criminals have escaped until we can confirm their deaths.'_ "

"Sirius! Harry! Come down here! Quickly!"

Harry and Sirius abandoned the course and flew straight to Remus in the stands.

" _These fugitives are a danger to everyone. Do not attempt to apprehend them. Contact the Department of Magical Law Enforcement immediately._ "

"What's happened?"

"Someone raided Azkaban."

"Who?"

Remus shook his head. "I don't know. They didn't say. The Lestranges were missing. The DMLE put out a warning for them."

Sirius sat on his broom, stunned for a moment before he found his wits. "Is that all? No manhunt? No Dementors?"

Remus shrugged. "Seems they learned their lesson from your debacle."

"But I was innocent!"

Remus smirked. "You escaped on your own. Granted, they completely fucked up your trial or they would've known you were an animagus. But still: bit of a difference."

Sirius and Harry dismounted their brooms and sat in the bleachers silently.

Sirius frowned. "Has the Cup been in Britain since they were locked up?"

Remus tried to remember, but couldn't. "I don't think so, but I'm not sure."

Sirius grunted. "Amelia at the very least had better have made the connection between the Cup and the breakout."

"Are you thinking of going in to help?"

Sirius shrugged. "Moody's replacement is supposed to evaluate me on the first. I'm not officially back to work until I've been cleared."

"What happened to Moody?"

"He retired. Shocking, right? I guess he finished up his last batch of trainees and called it quits. Something about being sick of not being allowed in the field. I'd put money on him trying to hunt down as many Dark Lords as he can. He's the type that wants to go out with his boots on and he's not getting any younger."

"I'll take your word for it."

Harry looked at the adults and said, "I think I'd like to go home now. I'm not really in the mood to keep racing."

000

The first of September came quickly and Aunt Petunia dropped Harry at the Hogwarts Express. The breakout from Azkaban had been on the muggle as well as the wizarding new, although the muggle news didn't have quite the same details.

Harry quickly brought his trunk into the compartment he and Hermione traditionally took. Neville Longbottom sometimes joined them, but mostly it was Ravenclaws who took up seats with them. This year, a blonde girl wearing a bottlecap necklace rushed in and shut the door behind her.

"Hello," she said as her face went from the scrunch of concentration to a bright smile.

"Hello."

"Do you mind if I join you?"

Harry shook his head. "Feel free."

"Thanks. The blubbering humdingers are really acting up this year."

Harry nodded, pretending he knew what that meant. "I'm sorry: I'm afraid I don't know your name. I'm Harry, by the way."

"Luna. Nice to meet you Harry-by-the-way."

Harry chuckled. Luna pushed the goggles she wore on her head over her eyes. "Oh, wow. Your aura is really dense."

The door slid open and Luna spun to see Hermione in the doorway. "Hello."

"Hello."

"Luna, this is Hermione. Hermione, Luna."

"Hi, Luna. Would you mind…?"

Luna moved out of the doorway and took a seat on the bench opposite Harry. Hermione pulled her wand out and levitated it into the luggage rack.

"Harry, do the thing."

"I'm not doing the thing."

"What thing?"

"She's curious. Come on. Do it."

Harry rolled his eyes. "Fine. _**I am the Dragon.**_ " The room rumbled and Luna and Hermione felt the rumble through their bodies.

"Oh my."

"Right?"

Hermione and Luna began chatting and giggling quietly enough that Harry couldn't hear.

The Express began chugging along down the tracks. Hermione and Luna giggling and Harry practicing occlumency exercises. He wanted to reconstruct the bits of memory he had of a certain book on wand lore. He'd gotten some of it, but not enough to put together what kind of wand he really should have instead of his holly wand. Not that he didn't love the holly wand, but he was certain now that he could have one that was even more in tune with him and his magic.

The door opened. Ron Weasley took one look and moved on. Fred and George Weasley, on the other hand, grabbed the door and took a seat on the bench next to Harry.

"Mister Potter…"

"…we have a proposition…"

"…and it's taken all Summer for us…"

"…to discover just who we were dealing with."

Harry looked at the twins. He'd always liked them, but hadn't really interacted much with them. They were older and always in trouble over some prank or another.

"Proposition?"

"Yes. You see…"

"…we usually play some harmless pranks…"

"…on the teachers…"

"…in order to foster morale…"

"…and togetherness. However…"

"…we could never get one over on Professor Lupin."

"We tried all year…"

"…and toward the end…"

"…he found us and confiscated something."

Harry tried to raise one eyebrow, gave it up as bad job and just huffed. "I don't see how this is my problem."

"Oh, but it isn't."

"Ooookay."

"You see, the item he confiscated…"

"…is a map of Hogwarts…"

"…that he helped create…"

"…along with Messrs Prongs, Padfoot, and Wormtail."

Harry looked at Hermione, who took out her wand and began casting. "Mister Durak and Miss Baast-"

"I hate that name," Hermine muttered as she finished casting the privacy charms.

"-wish to inform you that you'll have to pass a test if you wish the item returned."

The twins blinked. "You're shitting us," they said in stereo.

"Language!" Hermione replied.

"The Marauders were not just about pranks," Harry said.

"They were also brilliant wizards, in their own right," Hermione continued.

"Are they…?"

"I think they are, o' brother mine."

"You're holding the map hostage…"

"…against our grades?"

Harry and Hermione both smiled. "In part," Harry answered.

The twins frowned. The one on the left responded, "What are your terms, Mister Durak?"

Harry shrugged. "Are you unregistered animagi?" The twins narrowed their eyes at Harry. Harry lifted his hands and said, "Messrs Padfoot and Moony set the terms. Prongs is dead and Wormtail in Azkaban. Mister Durak agreed upon his induction. Miss Baast abstained."

The twins looked at each other and seemed to have some sort of psychic silent conversation. The one on the right turned to Harry and said, "Very well, Mister Durak. Challenge: accepted."

The twins left the compartment and Luna turned to Harry. "You're all named after creatures from folklore. Sort of."

Hermione raised an eyebrow. Harry was jealous of the eyebrow raise.

"It's just… a bit on the nose, don't you think?"

Harry chuckled and Hermione blushed. "And childish, I think. But if you grow up too much, you'll take everything too seriously."

Luna looked out the window for a minute before asking, "But why Dew-rahk instead of Drak? Drak actually means dragon, doesn't it?"

Harry turned away and mumbled, "I can't pronounce it when I transform."

"What was that?"

"He couldn't say it properly when he transformed."

Luna giggled. "Oh, I'm looking forward to learning about the animagus transformation this year."

Harry sighed. He wished Neville would get there so the giggling would die down a bit.

000

Harry wasn't paying attention as Headmaster Dumbledore announced that the Forbidden Forest was, shockingly, still forbidden. He was thinking about his schedule for the year, Hermione in her underthings, how to contact Mister Ollivander without Dumbledore knowing, how to get a replacement wand surreptitiously, kissing Hermione, getting a potions tutor after Hogwarts, taking A levels after Hogwarts, groping Hermione, whether he should try to go to muggle university, and whether he should register his animagus form.

"…Quidditch will be canceled this year. Instead, we will be hosting the Tri-Wizard Tournament!"

The hall fell silent. Harry was ambivalent toward Quidditch. On the one hand, flying. On the other, convoluted rules and one position making all the rest largely irrelevant.

The doors to the Great Hall swung open with a surprising bang. A man with a wooden leg clomped in. One of his eyes was a strange eye-patch that kept spinning every which way.

"And please welcome our Defense Against the Dark Arts teacher: Professor Moody!"

Professor Moody continued his clomp up to the staff table and took a seat next to Headmaster Dumbledore.

"Prefects, please escort the first years to their new homes. Everyone else, be sure to be back to your common rooms by curfew."

The Headmaster took his seat and began sipping from a tea cup while chatting to Professor Moody.

Luna walked up next to Harry and Hermione.

"Hi, Luna."

"Hello Harry and Hermione."

She stood there until Harry felt awkward enough to ask, "What's up?"

"I would like to discuss some things with you two privately."

Harry and Hermione stood up and left the Great Hall for an empty classroom. They closed the door and cast as many privacy charms as they could, which was 17 between them.

"I want to be an illegal animagus too."

Harry shrugged. "Sure. I've no problem with it."

"I'm registering my animagus form as soon as I'm old enough to go to the ministry. I was actually thinking of talking to Professor MacGonagall."

Harry rolled his eyes. "It's a stupid rule. It's mostly to keep people from becoming animagi for some anachronistic reason that probably doesn't even matter anymore."

"I'm not going to break the rules just because it suits me!"

"If Sirius hadn't broken the rules, he'd still be rotting in Azkaban!"

"If they'd all followed the rules, Peter Pettigrew would've been in Azkaban!"

"You don't know that for certain."

"Certain enough! I'm not getting locked up for failing to register."

Harry waved his hand. "It's only a crime if you get caught using it to do something else illegal. If you just get caught running around, it's barely a fine."

"That's fine for you! You've got a vault full of gold and Sirius'll bail you out anyway. I'm not that lucky."

"If you think I'd let you go to Azkaban for something silly like not registering your animagus form, you've lost it. And Sirius would bail you out in a heartbeat."

"You say that now, but how do I know?"

Harry looked hurt. "I'd do anything for you."

"Really? Or do you just enjoy the snogging?"

"How can I prove it? Tell me what to do and I'll do it."

"Come with me to talk to Professor MacGonagall about registering our animagus forms."

Luna cocked her head and said, "That's silly."

Harry looked at Hermione, while Hermione turned to glare at Luna.

"It is! That's not a way for him to prove his love for you. He should have to fly naked around the castle streaming a banner or something embarrassing like that. Following rules isn't difficult. I mean, there are rules against stealing things that you both follow all the time."

Hermione ground out, "Yes, but I'm trying to get Harry to register so he won't get in trouble."

"But _you_ want to register and you're not going to register unless he does."

Hermione froze. Harry turned to look at Luna. "What?"

"It's obvious, isn't it? She's not going to register without you. I don't know why she's starting a fight to get you to do it. If she just explained that, you'd do it for her." Luna cocked her head to the side as she finished.

"Is that true?"

"Well I'm not going to register and leave you hanging out to dry, am I?"

"It's been killing you not to register hasn't it?"

Hermione gave a single nod. Harry wrapped her in a hug. "All right. I'm sorry. We'll talk to MacGonagall."

Hermione sniffled. "Professor MacGonagall."

Harry chuckled. " _Professor_ MacGonagall."

Luna raised her hand.

"Yes?"

"Could you wait until I become one? I'm sure Fred and George would appreciate you waiting for them as well."

Hermione looked torn.

Harry said, "How about this: we tell Professor MacGonagall that we're working on it. That way, if something happens we'll be covered."

Hermione squeezed Harry. "Alright. We'll do that. But if they don't figure it out by the end of the year, we'll register then."

"Okay."

"You two are quite cute."

"Thank you, Luna."

"So how do I begin?"

000

Rubeus Hagrid was getting his hut cleaned up.

"T'morrow," he hummed, "I'll be meetin' a bunch o' new stud'nts 'n teachers.

His dog, Fang, was whining by the door. Hagrid closed the box he'd been sorting his things into and opened the door for his great dane. Or maybe if it was a little bit of a magical breed, who was going to tell?

He looked out into the edge of the forest and saw a very rare brown hare sitting in the grass. As Fang bounded toward it, it just sat there. Hagrid knew that Fang was just playing, but the hare surely didn't. And if Fang actually caught the Hare, it might accidentally kill the poor creature.

At the very last moment, the hare sprang upright into Fang's face. The hare spun in mid-air and planted its feet on Fang's head before bounding off into the forest.

Right into the path of a lion, for no other cat could be that large. Or, perhaps, Hagrid thought, it might be a lioness, for lions had manes and this beautiful creature did not.

Instead of pouncing on the hare the lioness stopped and stooped while the hare ran right up onto the lioness' back. The lioness roared and then Hagrid heard something he'd been waiting years to hear.

A dragon roared from the forest, loud, clear, and reverberating everywhere. And he knew that it was a dragon for no other creature could imitate a dragon so well to feel it in the guts, the bones.

Hagrid froze for a longer than he'd later admit before turning into his hut and grabbing his lantern and Fang's leash. He got ready and started swiftly into the forest to find the dragon.

A tiny, blonde student appeared in his path so suddenly that he nearly had a heart attack.

"Hullo, Professor Hagrid," the girl said.

And then, before he could respond, another girl walked out. Harry's friend with bushy, brown hair. "Hello, Professor Hagrid. It's a lovely evening for a walk, don't you think?"

Hagrid stared dumbfounded at the giggling girls just as Harry Potter himself crashed through the bushes. "Oh! Hello, Professor Hagrid," the boy said with a smile as he caught his balance. "I was wondering if you'd heard anything odd tonight?"

The girls began giggling.

"Stud'nts shouldn't ought be out 'ere this time o' night. Past curfew, it is. What are you lot doin' out 'ere?"

Hermione Granger answered, giggling restrained for the time being, "Just taking a look around. It really is a beautiful night."

"Right. Best you lot get back to th' castle though. 'urry up, fore I start givin' detentions or takin' points."

Hagrid watched the three students make their way back to the castle before searching the forest once more. The dragons weren't supposed to arrive for a few weeks yet.

000

Fred and George watched Harry, Luna, and Hermione walking back up toward the castle. The twins had hidden up a nearby tree when the dragon roared.

"I think we've been had, Fred."

"I'm George."

"I wasn't talking to you, but now that you mention it… I think we've been had, George."

George quirked a brow at his brother.

"Mister Durak is a fucking dragon."

"I've put that together myself, thank you."

Fred shook his head. "You're not understanding. He's a _dragon_."

"Yes, Fred. Saying it harder isn't going to make it suddenly mean something else. I'd put that together already."

Fred began cursing.

"What's wrong?"

"The animagus transformation can't turn a witch or a wizard into a magical creature."

"For once, I'm not following."

"Harry is a _dragon_ whose animagus form is a _human_."

"And?"

"We're never topping that prank, George. Not ever."

"Oh." George pulled his robe on. "Bollocks."

"What now?"

"We go tell Mister Durak that we've finished the assignment and get the map back."

They silently made their way back to the castle.

As they reached the secret entrance they preferred, "Fred?"

As they walked in, "Yeah?"

"Do you suppose Harry's always been a dragon?"

"No idea."

"Oh."

Fred stopped after closing the door behind them. "Do you suppose we'll get to choose our own Marauder names?"

George shrugged. "Dunno. Let's get to the common room, eh? We'll find out together."

They both smiled and trudged back through castle under the faint moonlight that filtered in through the windows.

A/N: I found the last parts of this chapter too funny to skip over, so the story isn't moving as quickly as it could. But Harry, Luna, and Hermione play a prank! Isn't that wonderful? Too bad they didn't include Neville though. And Fred is obviously mistaken, but I won't tell if you don't ;-)

Hope you enjoyed this shorter chapter.


	7. Chapter 7 -- Dracul

The representatives from Durmstrang were politely speaking with the Slytherin table in the Great Hall as the Goblet of Fire did whatever it is that magical artifacts do. The representatives from Beauxbatons were sitting at the Ravenclaw table. Luna Lovegood, a Ravenclaw herself, sat with Harry Potter, Hermione Granger, and Neville Longbottom at the Gryffindor table.

The Goblet was set to name the competitors in the Tri-Wizard tournament. Dumbledore had explained that only witches and wizards seventeen years and older were permitted to enter their names and therefore compete in the tournament. A great many had lamented that decision, but Harry and his friends were all thankful they wouldn't be eligible.

The fire in the Goblet changed color and a loud series of bangs from Moody's staff called the hall to silence. Headmaster Dumbledore walked up to the Goblet and stood patiently. The Headmaster of Durmstrang stood behind and to his right while the Headmistress of Beauxbatons stood behind and to his left.

The fire spit out a slip of paper, which flew into Dumbledore's outstretched hand. He turned the paper around, showing it to both Headmaster Igor Karkaroff and Headmistress Olympe Maxime.

"The Champion for the Durmstrang Institute is: Viktor Krum." And he handed the slip to Headmaster Karkaroff as another slip flew into the air and then to Headmaster Dumbledore's hand.

"The Champion for Beauxbatons Academy is: Fleur Delacour." And he handed the slip to Headmistress Maxime as the third slip flew into the air and into his now waiting hand.

"The Champion for Hogwarts is: Cedric Diggory."

A round of applause ran through the hall, but the Goblet spit out a fourth slip. Headmaster Dumbledore put his hand out and the slip flew into his hand. The hall was silent.

"Harry Potter."

"That's not at all funny, Headmaster."

"Mister Potter, this is not a joke. You are the fourth competitor."

Hermione grabbed Harry's arm, her face pale. "Harry…"

"Please make your way to the other room."

Harry walked through the hall to the doors the other competitors had walked through. He saw several adults who seemed like the official types along with the former prefect, Percy Weasley, standing next to a man in a bowler hat.

"I didn't enter the tournament have no intention of competing, so feel free to disqualify me." And Harry turned to leave.

"You want to lose your magic?"

Harry froze. And then turned. He could feel the Dragon burning beneath his skin. "What?"

"The Goblet chose you to compete. You've been entered into a binding magical contract. If you don't compete, you'll lose your magic."

"And my consent is completely unnecessary?"

"The magic of the Goblet is infallible, so you could only have entered yourself."

Harry blinked. And took a deep breath. "The Goblet failed at that. I'm to trust that it'll succeed at taking my magic when it failed to prevent someone else entering me?"

"Are you claiming someone else entered you into the tournament?"

Harry nodded.

"Well, I'm afraid that's impossible. So you must've entered yourself and now you must compete." The man with a bowler hat in his hand smiled as he finished speaking.

"I have no choice, have I?"

The man shook his head and Harry let out a string of language that caused several gasps and three that's-not-physically-possible-s over the course of it.

"That'll be one hundred points from Gryffindor for language, Mister Potter."

"Sorry, Professor MacGonagall."

Headmaster Dumbledore entered the room. He looked at Harry and his disapproval was easy to see.

The girl from Beauxbatons sneered at Harry, "Zis boy is to compete in ze tournament? Ha."

Harry closed his eyes and took several calming breaths before speaking. "Let's just get this over with."

"There will be three main events. Challenges that we've engineered to ensure the safety of the participants and spectators. There will also be several ceremonies, beginning with the weighing of the wands in one week."

He went on to explain other rules about aid being given and discussing the events with officials, professors, and so on. Harry's blood was running hot and hard in his ears.

Harry stared at Professor MacGonagall after the Headmaster finished. "Mister Potter, my office."

When the doors to Professor MacGonagall's office closed, she began casting a string of charms Harry recognized as the charms he and his friends used to ensure their privacy, only she added several he didn't recognize.

"Mister Potter, I understand you are a novice occlumens. Please check your memories for blank spots or memory charms." And she sat behind her desk waiting patiently.

Harry calmed himself, then sat in the chair and went through his memories. "No blanks or memory charms, Professor."

"I have never heard you use such… colorful… language, Mister Potter. In fact, I've never heard several of the things you said in my life and I've lived through some interesting times. I shall trust that you were sincere when you declared you had not entered yourself in this tournament. It would seem that the simplest answer, that you were under the imperius curse and then obliviated, is unlikely as you have no gaps in your memory."

"Someone could've done it when I was asleep. Or it could be something completely different."

"True, Mister Potter. I had hoped it would be a simple matter to unravel, but it is not. I'm speaking to you now as a concerned friend rather than a figure of any authority: have you completed the animagus transformation?"

Harry contemplated the benefits of admitting it to his Head of House.

"I will assume that you have. On the day before the first task, I shall file your registration form with the Ministry. Hagrid, the man couldn't keep a secret to save the world, has mentioned strange animals in the forbidden forest. I have a guess as to which one you are."

Harry nodded slowly.

"I can't think of anything else I'm allowed to do to help you. You may ask something of me, of course, but I may not be allowed to help you, as I understand the rules."

Harry contemplated his next question carefully.

"Is Mister Ollivander the most skilled wandmaker or the only wandmaker in Britain?"

"Is your wand giving you problems?"

"It is not perfectly attuned to me and my magic. Are you an occlumens?"

"Not a very good one, but I've practiced it. I'm perhaps as good as you or Hermione, although we would need to consult a legilimens to be certain."

Harry nodded in understanding. "I want to get my wand remade. The core is fine, but the wood is wrong."

Professor MacGonagall slowly asked, "How do you know?"

"You'll have to obvliviate yourself after I tell you. Or I could show you, if you're a legilimens."

"I am not. And you'll have to be pretty convincing for me to agree to that. Please hand me your wand first."

He did and then said, "Use the clock to memorize the time. Use it as a reference, Professor."

Suddenly, Harry was standing instead of sitting. The time had advanced nearly an hour. He frowned. His wand was in its holster though.

"Professor?"

"Go to your dorm, Mister Potter. Check your pocket when you get there. You know which one."

Harry nodded and left.

Once alone, he confirmed that he had requested the obliviation with the slip of paper. It had the correct codes and phrases. He'd have to devise new ones now. Hermione would be annoyed.

000

The crowd was cheering. Hermione was biting her lip, sitting next to Luna and Neville. Harry was, of course, last to face off against a dragon. He knew he would be able to face it. Professor MacGonagall had informed him that the paperwork was filed with the Ministry the previous day.

Harry walked out of the waiting tent and onto the field. His wand was still in its holster on his arm. He wouldn't be using it today. The black scales caught a bit of sunlight through the clouds and the yellow eyes of the nesting Hungarian Horntail bore into Harry as he walked out.

Harry reached down into his magic and connected it with his inner animal, making sure to suffuse his clothes so they wouldn't be lost. It would be downright embarrassing to turn into a dragon and then put his bits on display for the world, especially in the chill of November. That was actually more terrifying than the Horntail.

The crowd was silent as he stalked forward to the nesting dragon. He was smaller than the Horntail, but not by too much. The dragon turned to face Harry and narrowed its eyes as he approached.

" _ **You have an egg that is not yours. Give it to me.**_ "

The Horntail roared and breathed its fire at Harry. Harry closed his eyes and let the orange flames wash over him. He knew his scales would protect him from all but the hottest of flames. He opened his mouth and let loose a gout of fire as hot and forceful as he could manage. The Horntail was awash in yellow-white flame, Harry's fire being hotter than the Horntail's.

" _ **You have an egg that is NOT YOURS. GIVE IT TO ME!**_ "

The other dragon moved forward and turned around, lashing its tail threateningly in Harry's direction. When it turned back, it had the golden egg in one of its claws. It set the egg down and rolled it over to Harry, who picked it up and flew back to the competitors' entrance before returning himself to human form.

The judges began to confer on his score while he went into the recovery tent. The other three competitors looked up at him, clearly not expecting him to enter so soon after Viktor, the previous competitor. Cedric had been first, followed by Fleur.

Madam Pomfrey had him sit on the fourth bed while she finished examining Krum, who had a burn on his shoulder.

"How long did you wait before letting me know about the dragons? You don't have a mark on you," Cedric commented.

"'ow did you manage zat, leetle boy?"

"I asked nicely," Harry said with a smile.

"You… asked… Hungarian Horntail dragon to handt over egg?"

Harry nodded.

"And it did?" Cedric asked.

Harry nodded.

"Bloody hell, Potter. You've got great big brass balls, haven't you?"

Fleur thought, ' _Perhaps not so little after all._ '

Harry shrugged. "According to the medical texts I've read, they're within the standard size range for my age."

Viktor snorted and Fleur blushed.

Cedric laughed and shook his head. "How you managed to avoid Ravenclaw is a mystery for the ages."

"Speaking of Ravenclaws, rumor has it you and Chang-"

"We aren't exclusive, if you're asking for permission."

"Uh… No. Me and Hermione _are_ exclusive as far as I know. I was going to ask your advice on what girls usually like."

"A boy 'oo can convince a dragon to give up 'er egg is nervous about witches. Zat is ze most _English_ zing I 'ave ever 'eard."

Viktor snorted. "They like money and power and fame."

"A smile and good humor usually works for me."

"Do not listen to zese _porc_. Be yourself and ze witch will love you for 'oo you are. Or she is not ze right witch for you."

Harry blinked. "I meant like date ideas. Places to go, things to do, that sort of thing. I've been together with Hermione since January."

"Wait. You and Hermione are really a couple? Romantically?"

"'Oo is 'Ermione?"

"Good for you!"

"Yes, Cedric. She's my best friend and girlfriend. Thank you, Viktor. Any helpful ideas or should we just talk about the tournament?"

Cedric shrugged. "You've been with her longer than I've ever been with a girl. Whatever you're doing is probably fine."

" _Non!_ Every girl likes romance. You should woo her with poetry and declare your love for ze world."

Krum sat silently. Everyone turned to him. "Vhat?"

"Everyone else had something to say about it."

Krum shrugged and frowned.

000

Harry was in first place. Mostly by sheer luck. The judges had concluded that human self-transfiguration was advanced magic and that since neither Harry nor the dragon had been injured, he was given the highest scores by all judges.

The real test of courage for Harry was the revelation that there would be a Yule Ball. He immediately asked Hermione, who had an attack of girlishness on the spot, going on about dresses and hairstyles and matching colors and whatnot.

Harry sighed. The worst part was that he had to learn to dance and had begged the help of the older Gryffindor girls, although that was mitigated somewhat by Hermione helping him practice. He was waiting just outside the Great Hall for Hermione to arrive.

As she walked down the stairs, Harry's breath caught. Hermione was gorgeous. She'd done up her hair, her dress was a strapless gown that left her shoulders beautifully exposed, and her smile made his heart race.

Fleur was beautiful too, but between his occlumency, his natural resistance, and the animagus transformation, Veela allure was more irritating than alluring to him. Although, he did get a laugh out of the boys who drooled and acted the fool over the French witch. She was with a French girl, chatting in French.

Cedric was with Cho Chang, the Ravenclaw seeker. Cedric was quite handsome and Chang looked good, so the couple made a fetching pair.

Viktor was with Daphne Greengrass and they both looked stoic. More like a pair of Roman statues than live people, really, but there is some beauty in that as well.

The four Champions were announced and music began playing. The Champions and their dates finished their opening dance and were guided to the Champions' table.

Professor MacGonagall came up behind Harry. "Mister Potter, I need to speak with you a moment."

Harry went with MacGonagall into a small alcove where she put up a simple silencing charm. She leaned in and whispered, "I've made arrangements for your wand. We'll talk about it again in April. Happy Christmas."

She brought down the silencing charm and then said, "Congratulations on completing the animagus transformation, Mister Potter. I was surprised when Misses Granger and Lovegood asked to register along with you."

"Of course, Professor. Thank you."

As Harry was walking back to the Champions' table, he spotted Sirius dancing with Aunt Petunia on the dance floor. Which was suddenly surreal. He'd sent letters to his Aunt and Sirius, of course, but he did not expect to see them at Hogwarts. He walked to the dance floor and waited until they stopped.

Sirius led Petunia over. "Harry!"

"Sirius! Aunt Petunia! What are you doing here?"

"Well, I managed to wrestle an invitation out of the Ministry and your Aunt is my plus one."

"It's so beautiful here."

"Are you… together?"

Aunt Petunia turned to Sirius who was expressionless as he said, "You see, Harry, when a man and a woman meet, sometimes they enjoy each others' company…"

Petunia slapped Sirius in the shoulder. "No, Harry. We're not together. Not like that, anyway. Just friends."

Sirius coughed. "Yes. Friends."

Harry narrowed his eyes. Sirius smirked.

"Anyway, you've done well with this contest. I'm proud of you. Now why don't you get back to your date, eh? She can't be happy you've left her alone to talk to the boring adults."

"Sirius, please tell me you're not shagging my aunt."

"Even if I was, which I'm not, mind, it wouldn't be your business. Your aunt is a grown woman who can shag whomever she likes. Don't be a git." Sirius smacked Harry upside the head as he lead Petunia to the table with the punch. Petunia was giggling at Sirius and Harry couldn't help shuddering.

He went to find Hermione.

Hermione was discussing vampires with Viktor. Pansy, Fleur, and Fleur's date were missing. "Hermione! Sorry I was away for so long."

"It's alright. I saw Sirius and your aunt."

"Ve vere just discussing the undead clans."

"Like Dracula?"

Viktor shook his head. "The son of the dragon has nothing to do with vampires."

That caught Harry's attention. "Son of the dragon?"

Viktor nodded. "Yes. Vlad Dracula. Vlad Dracul was a… Duke? Of Vallachia. Part of Romania. Vlad the Impaler vas his son, the one called Dracula."

"Why was Vlad Dracul named a dragon?"

"He used ancient magiks to make himself powerful vizard. He vas master of dragon ritual, able to use it many times."

"What is a dragon ritual?"

"Ancient Carpathian magic. It amplifies a vizard's magic many times. But it vill kill vizards who use it, so it is very Dark magic."

Harry gulped. "How long does it take to kill a wizard?"

"I think maybe a few days or a veek at most. This is vhy Vlad Dracul vas so dangerous. He vould use it for a day to vin great battles. Enemies did not know if they vould face mere armies or The Dragon. No army could withstand Dracul, the Dragon."

Hermione was staring at Harry. Harry was staring at Viktor.

"Vhat?"

Hermione whispered, "Do the thing, Harry…"

Harry shook his head.

"Harry…" she whispered.

"No," he whispered back, still staring at Viktor.

"Do it, Harry," she whispered.

" _ **I am the Dragon.**_ "

Viktor shot up and stumbled back over his chair, falling to the ground, his face a rictus of shock. "Vhat is this?!"

Hermione rushed to Viktor while Harry stood stock still. Hermione was dragging Viktor into the alcoves around the hall, while Harry pulled his wand and began casting privacy charms. When Viktor's back met the wall of the alcove, he seemed to come to his senses and pushed Hermione off of him.

He stalked into Harry's face and hissed, "Vhat is this?!"

Harry connected his magic to his inner animal just a touch and focused on his eyes and his breathing. His pupils became slitted and his breath was coming out smoke. " _ **I am the Dragon!**_ "

Viktor flinched backward. "You are insane! Records of that ritual vere destroyed! And for good reason!"

"I never performed a ritual in my life."

"You lie!"

"I do not!"

Viktor huffed and puffed before his breathing calmed. "How is this possible?"

"You know more than we do."

Viktor looked at Hermione, who stood tall at Harry's back. Viktor ran his hand through his short-cropped hair. He began muttering in Bulgarian.

"Okay. Vhere should I begin?"

"What are the effects of the dragon ritual? What are the downsides? Why were the records destroyed?"

Viktor thought for a moment. "It increases the potency of a vizard's magic, I already said. That is biggest effect. It makes vizards more dominant, more like dragons. This could be downside as vell. Biggest downside: it burns vizard out. Strong enough vizard will burn out and forget being human. Veak vizards vill turn to ash, if they are lucky. Some vizards vill explode vhen they burn out. Only the strongest vizards might survive to turn into mindless beast."

"How long does it last before it burns a wizard out?"

"Our lessons said Vlad Dracul could last three days in complete control and this vas the longest ever recorded. Ancient Dacians only used it for one day."

Harry and Hermione were silent.

Viktor looked to Harry. "How long has this been part of you?"

Hermione answered, "1981, I think."

Viktor paled. "Person that entered you in this tournament vas very stupid."

"Why?"

"You are very clever vizard, but also blessed vith extremely potent magic. You are always Dracul. Overpower your spells and you vill see. It must be like competing against squibs for you."

Harry was getting uncomfortable.

"Harry always overpowers his spells… But you never meant to, did you?"

Harry shook his head.

"Viktor, thank you. For telling us about this."

She grabbed Harry's wrist and dragged him out of the privacy bubble. She dragged him right out of the hall and into an unused classroom with a window that she opened.

"Try to overpower a spell. Lumos. Out the window." She pointed and crossed her arms over her chest. Which did not help Harry's concentration.

He took his wand from the holster and pointed it out the window. "How much?"

"As much as you can without breaking your wand."

"Okay. Lumos." The sky cracked and Hermione had her hand over her eyes.

"That wasn't light, Harry! That was lightning! My _eyes_!" She was blinking stars out of her eyes slowly and her ears rang.

"That was lumos. And I think I cracked my wand. That's exactly why I don't do stuff like that."

"Right. We're focusing on that book of Professor Flitwick's until you're not _accidentally_ overpowering your spells."

"They always work the first time though."

"Yes, because compensating for finesse with raw power is going to serve you forever. What happens if you someday don't have access to this well of power? What happens if you are no longer the Dragon? What happens if you just _get old_? Or any number of other 'what if's?"

"None of that's going to happen."

"Harry," she grabbed his arm tightly, "You are not ruled by your emotions. You've always been a scientist first and a wizard second. Do not confuse our snogging for tacit approval of emotional primacy."

Harry growled, "I know. I know that. I'm sorry." And then spat, "You're right."

"And quit growling at me."

Harry took a deep breath. "Of course. Sorry." He looked down at the crack running lengthwise up his wand with no small amount of worry.

 **A/N** : This'll be the last chapter for a while. I need to finish the novel I'm working on before the end of September so I can put it up for sale in October. Then I'm thinking of doing NaNoWriMo again this year.


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